Criminal proceedings cannot be initiated for civil disputes; FIRs quashed due to abuse of process and suppression of facts.

JUDGMENT :

Ashwani Kumar Mishra, Ashutosh Srivastava, JJ.

1. Heard Sri Mukul Rohatgi, Sri Rakesh Dwivedi as well as Sri Anoop Trivedi, learned Senior Advocates assisted by Sri Raghav Dwivedi, Sri Ankit Banati, Sri Eklavya Dwivedi, Mrs. Devanshi Singh, Sri Rishi Agarwala and Sri Kartikeya Saran, Advocates; Sri Vikram Chaudhari, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Jatin Sehgal, Ms. Devna Soni, Sri Shivashish Dwivedi, Sri Ashish Garg, Sri T. Islam, Sri Adhirath Singh, Sri Raymon Singh and Ms. Yashi Bajpai, Advocates, for the petitioners; Sri Manish Goel, learned Additional Advocate General assisted by Sri Suresh Singh, Advocate, for the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), Sri J. K. Upadhya, learned AGA for the State; Sri Sikandar B. Kochar as well as Sri Zoheb Hossain (through VC), learned Advocates for the Enforcement Directorate (ED); Sri Vinay Saran, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Prashant Kumar, Sri Sarvesh Kumar Tiwari, Sri Saumitra Dwivedi and Sri Devesh Srivastava, Advocates for the complainant/intervener and Sri Syed Imran Ibrahim, learned Advocate for the private respondent.

2. These three writ petitions have been heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment. Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 10893 of 2023 (Niraj Tyagi and another Vs. State of U.P. and others) is taken as the lead case. These petitions alongwith Writ Petition Nos. 11837 of 2023 & 11838 of 2023 were placed before this Court pursuant to an order of nomination passed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice on 4.3.2024. The other two petitions i.e. Criminal Misc. Writ Petition Nos. 11837 of 2023 and 11838 of 2023 have been allowed by this Court on 15.4.2024 and the First Information Report, dated 22.7.2023, registered as Case Crime No. 611 of 2023, under Sections 420, 120-B IPC read with Section 82 of the Registration Act, 1908, Police Station - Kavi Nagar, District – Ghaziabad has been quashed. The remaining three writ petitions are now being disposed of by this composite judgment.

3. Two FIR’s as well as consequential ECIR registered by Enforcement Directorate (in short ‘ED’) are under challenge in these three writ petitions. The 1^st FIR under challenge is in Case Crime No. 427 of 2023, dated 9.4.2023, lodged pursuant to a direction issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C., dated 7.4.2023 under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B, 323, 504, 506 IPC, Police Station Indirapuram, District Ghaziabad (hereinafter referred to as the ‘ 1^st FIR’). The order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, dated 7.4.2023, passed in Complaint Case No. 457 of 2023 filed by Amit Walia in his capacity as the authorized representative of M/s Shipra Estate Private Limited, is also under challenge.

4. The 2^nd FIR under challenge in these proceedings is in Case Crime No. 197 of 2023, dated 15.4.2023, under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC, Police Station Beta-2, District Greater NOIDA (hereinafter referred to as the ‘2^nd FIR’), lodged at the instance of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (hereinafter referred to as the YEIDA). The 2^nd FIR specifically refers to and relies upon the 1^st FIR.

5. The petitioners have also challenged the consequential proceedings initiated by ED pursuant to 2^nd FIR as ECIR/HIU-I/06/2023. The ED has also subsumed the 1^st FIR in its investigation undertaken vide aforesaid ECIR.

6. The order of Chief Judicial Magistrate dated 07.04.2023 as well as the FIR lodged pursuant thereto are the subject matter of challenge in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 14101 of 2023, while the 2^nd FIR as well as ECIR registered by ED, therein, are assailed in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition Nos. 10893 of 2023 & 14053 of 2023. The petitioners in these writs had initially sought a declaration that Section 420 IPC be declared as manifestly arbitrary and ultravires Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India but this prayer has been given up, by the petitioners, at the time of hearing of the matte