IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT GWALIOR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 20520 of 2023 VIKASH SHARMA AND OTHERS Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Prakash Braru - Advocate for the petitioners.

Ms. Kalpana Parmar - Public Prosecutor for the State.

Shri Khub Chand Verma, Upendra Kumar Shrivas and Deepak Kumar Gupta - Advocates for the respondent No.2.

RESERVED ON :- 17/02/2026 DELIVERD ON :- 23/02/2026 ORDER By invoking the inherent powers of this Court, the present petition has been preferred by the petitioners No.1 and 2, namely, Vikash Sharma and Pankar Rajput under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)/482 of CrPC seeking quashment of F.I.R. registered as Crime No. 257 of 2022 at Police Station University, District Gwalior (M.P.) for the offence punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of IPC and all consequential criminal proceedings arising therefrom.

FACTS As per prosecution story, the complainant/respondent No.2, Smt.

Munni Devi @ Meena Verma, wife of Shri Khoobchand Verma, aged about

70 years, resident of Subhash Bada, Danaoli, Lashkar, Gwalior (M.P.), filed a private complaint before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Gwalior, against the following accused persons, namely, 1. Santosh Singh Kushwah, 2. Shyam Yadav, 3. Satendra Singh Gurjar, 4. Bhupendra Singh Rana, 5. Vikas Sharma (petitioner No.1), 6. Pradeep Singh Chauhan, 7 . Pankaj Rajput (petitioner No.2), 8. Abhay Limaye (Service Provider, Office of the Sub-Registrar, Ohadpur, Gwalior).

The complainant/respondent No.2 owned an immovable property situated at Adarsh Mill Road, Bahodapur, District Gwalior, Ward No.1, ad- measuring approximately 11 x 14154 square feet. On 17.02.2021, she entered into an agreement to sell the said property to accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah, for a total consideration of Rs.5,00,000/-. Out of the said amount, Rs.1,30,000/- was paid in advance, and the remaining Rs.3,70,000/- was to be paid at the time of execution of the sale deed. It was agreed that the sale deed would be executed within four months from the date of agreement. As accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah failed to execute the sale deed within the stipulated time, he sought an additional period of two months and requested that the notarized agreement be converted into a registered agreement. On 21.06.2021, the complainant accompanied accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah in his car to the Sub-Registrar’s Office at Ohadpur, City Centre, Gwalior, for execution of the registered document. Since her husband was ill and elderly, he did not accompany her. Trusting accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah, she signed and affixed her thumb impression on the documents presented to her. She was taken before the Sub-Registrar, her photograph was taken, and she was brought back home. She was not asked any questions by the Sub- Registrar. Later, when she requested a copy of the registered agreement, accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah failed to provide it. Upon inquiry at the Sub- Registrar’s office by her husband and nephew (an Advocate), it was discovered that instead of registering an agreement to sell, accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah, in conspiracy with other accused persons, had fraudulently executed a Power of Attorney in favor of accused No.2, Shyam Yadav. Furthermore, instead of the agreed property ad-measuring 154 square feet, the Power of Attorney mentioned a much larger land ad-measuring approximately 12,000 square feet situated near Jail Road, Bahodapur, Ward No.1, Gwalior, bearing Survey Nos.498/01, 498/03, 500 and 501. It was further revealed that accused No.8, Abhay Limaye, a service provider at the Sub-Registrar’s office, had booked an e-stamp slot and facilitated the execution of the Power of Attorney using forged signatures of the complainant. Accused No.1 Santosh Kushwah and accused No. 3/Satendra Singh Gurjar signed as witnesses to this Power of Attorney. Upon learning about the fraud, t