IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
M.NIRMAL KUMAR, J.
SA Law LLP, Represented by its Partner, Mr.Robert Ryall - Petitioners
Vs.
Narain Karthikeyan - Respondent
Crl.O.P.No.15163 of 2014 and Crl.M.P.Nos.1, 2 & 3 of 2014
Decided On : 13-08-2021
Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Sections 4, 465, 468, 471, 477A, 420 and 406 – Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Section 204, 188, 179, 182, 2, 3, 4 - Solicitors Act, 1974 - Sportsman - Commission Arising Out Of Sponsorship - Complainant is a reputed Sportsman in field of Formula Car Racing - Complainant is conferred with one of highest civilian award in recognition of his contribution in field of Motorsport by Government of India - After complainant had completed first year in Formula 1 Championship in 2005, a civil dispute arouse with Midland F1 Marketing Limited as well as another company by name Dartry Limited with regard to payment of commission arising out of sponsorship of complainant - Held, Complainant appeared before the Eastbourne County Court in Claim initiated by accused and participated in proceedings and filed his response submitting himself to its jurisdiction and started making payments - It is admitted by complainant that he received ten unsigned forged bills - On perusal of these bills and invoices, it is seen that the bills are not signed - In complaint, there is no mention how these unsigned bills were received and what was mode - Points raised by learned counsel for complainant with regard to Solicitors Act, 1974 is not applicable to this case - Admittedly, complainant participated in Eastbourne County Court England and was making payments - This being case, complainant cannot now make a turn around and make allegations that invoices are forged - If complainant is aggrieved, he ought to have filed an appeal before England Court and not a criminal complaint in India - This Court comes to conclusion that complaint even if taken on face value and accepted in its entirety, no prima facie case is made out against accused - Complaint against petitioners is maliciously instituted to escape from liability in paying professional fees to accused - Hence, continuation of criminal proceedings would amount to abuse of process of law and miscarriage of justice - Petition allowed.
ORDER :
This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.188 of 2014 pending before the learned Judicial Magistrate No.III, Coimbatore.
2. The petitioners are accused in C.C.No.188 of 2014 and facing trial for offence under Sections 465, 468, 471, 477A, 420 and 406 of IPC before the learned Judicial Magistrate No.III, Coimbatore.
3. For the sake of convenience, the petitioners and the respondent are referred to as accused and the complainant as per the complaint in C.C.No.188 of 2014.
4. The gist of the case is that the complainant is a reputed Sportsman in the field of Formula Car Racing and he is the first Indian in Formula 1 Racing Championship and role model for many Indian Sportsman. The complainant is conferred with one of the highest civilian award in recognition of his contribution in the field of Motorsport by the Government of India. After the complainant had completed the first year in Formula 1 Championship in 2005, a civil dispute arouse with Midland F1 Marketing Limited as well as another company by name Dartry Limited with regard to payment of commission arising out of sponsorship of the complainant. From the above dispute, two claim suits were filed before the High Court of Queens Bench in London England Claim No.2006 Folio 1264 and Claim No.H206X00979, wherein Midland F1 Marketing Limited claimed an amount of ?6,75,000/- in their Claim Petition and Dartry Limited claimed ?31,250/-, in their Claim Petition against the complainant. The accused were engaged by the complainant for defending him with regard to the dispute resolution in the field of Motor Sports. The complainant chose the accused on seeing advertisement in the website, claiming themselves to be a leading firm with regard to the dispute in the field of Motor Sports. The above two cases lasted for a year and the accused represented the complainant in the Court nearly 5 to 6 times. During the course of hearing objections were filed on behalf of the complainant and the complainant felt his presence would be often required before the London Courts. Since the complainant was busy participating in international racing schedule and travelling throughout the globe, he decided to resolve the matter out of Court by compromise in the above two claims and thereafter, both the cases were settled by way of compromise. The complainant agreed to pay a total amount of ?2,25,000/- in this regard. During the course of the litigation, the complainant for the above two cases had paid a sum of ?60,250/- as legal fees to the accused on the bills raised by them. The complainant was surprised to receive around 10 unexplained bills from the accused for the period from July 2006 to September 2007 and the same are as follows:-
| Sl.No. | Date | Invoice No's and Bill No |
| 1. | 15.07.2007 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.309362 for ?26,834.06 |
| 2 | 27.10.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.306540 for ?2,884.45 |
| 3 | 28.11.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.306880 for ?2,242.49 |
| 4 | 31.07.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.305163 for ?587.50 |
| 5 | 31.07.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.305489 for ?2,800.00 |
| 6 | 28.09.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.306205 for ?826.97 |
| 7 | 27.10.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.306545 for ?6,012.83 |
| 8 | 28.11.2006 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.306886 for ?1,484.03 |
| 9 | 30.04.2007 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.308791 for ?17,615.00 |
| 10 | 28.09.2007 | Unexecuted Bill Invoice No.310978 for ?6,887.00 |
5. Since the complainant was busy in the International Motorsports schedule, he failed to immediately raise any objection for the above forged bills. The accused taking advantage of the complainant's busy schedule, had filed litigation before the East Bourne Country Court in England in Claim No.8SI01925 and obtained a default judgment without properly serving summ
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