Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK Date: 24-Mar-2026 16:52:38 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK CRLMC No.708 of 2024 (A petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.)

Sunita Choudhury …. Petitioner (s)

-versus-

State of Odisha & Ors. …. Opposite Party (s)

Advocates appeared in the case through Hybrid Mode:

For Petitioner (s) : Mr. Banshidhar Baug, Sr. Adv.

along with associates For Opposite Party (s) : Mr. Udit Ranjan Jena, AGA Mr. Arun Kumar Nayak, Adv.

(for O.P.2) CORAM:

DR. JUSTICE SANJEEB K PANIGRAHI DATE OF HEARING:-18.02.2026 DATE OF JUDGMENT:-13.03.2026 Dr. Sanjeeb K Panigrahi, J.

1. The Petitioner, in the present petition, seeks quashing of Bhubaneswar SCV P.S. Case No.13 dated 02.11.2023 registered under Sections 465, 467, 468, 471, 420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC against him and others.

I. FACTUAL MATRIX OF THE CASE

2. The brief facts of the case are as follows:

i. Harihar Rath, father of Opposite Party No.3, was the owner in possession of the land in question prior to 1964. He sold the said land to Baja Mahabhoi, S/o Raghu Mahabhoi of Village Page 1

Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK

Date: 24-Mar-2026 16:52:38 Kalarahanga, Bhubaneswar, by registered Sale Deed No.891 dated

08.02.1964.

ii. In the settlement of 1974, the land stood recorded in the name of Harihar Rath.

iii. Thereafter, Baja Mahabhoi sold the said land to Kedarnath Swain by registered Sale Deed No.5522 dated 02.08.1978.

iv. Subsequently, Kedarnath Swain sold the land to Smt. Sunita Choudhury, the present petitioner, by registered Sale Deed No.11132007997 dated 31.12.2020.

v. The District Sub-Registrar, Bhubaneswar, sent information regarding the registration of the said sale deed to the Tahasildar, Bhubaneswar, pursuant to which Suo Motu Mutation Case No.1464 of 2021 was initiated. After enquiry, by order dated 03.04.2021, mutation was allowed and the Record of Rights was prepared in the name of the petitioner.

vi. Thereafter, Gouri Shankar Rath, along with his brothers, all sons of late Harihar Rath, instituted Civil Suit No.1839 of 2023 along with I.A. No.1 of 2023 under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the CPC before the Court of the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bhubaneswar, seeking temporary injunction in respect of the said land.

vii. By order dated 13.09.2023, the learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bhubaneswar, passed an ex parte order of status quo in I.A. No.1 of 2023.

Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK

Date: 24-Mar-2026 16:52:38 viii. Challenging the said order, the petitioner filed FAO No.195 of

2023 before the Court of the learned District Judge, Khurda at Bhubaneswar.

ix. Subsequently, Opposite Party No.3 lodged an F.I.R. before the Special Crime Unit, Bhubaneswar, which was registered as Bhubaneswar SCV P.S. Case No.13 dated 02.11.2023 under Sections 465, 467, 468, 471, 420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC. In the F.I.R., the informant alleged that the land covered under Hal Khata No.707, Plot No.923 measuring Ac.0.220 decimals of Mouza Kalarahanga was the ancestral property of his family inherited from his father, late Harihar Rath, and that his father had not sold the said land. It was further alleged that Baja Mahabhoi had purchased the land from Harihar Rath by registered Sale Deed dated 08.02.1964 and subsequently sold it to Kedarnath Swain, from whom the present petitioner purchased the land by registered Sale Deed dated 31.12.2020. The informant further alleged that upon perusal of a photocopy of the sale deed dated 08.02.1964, the signature of Harihar Rath appearing therein was not genuine, on the basis of which the F.I.R. was registered for the aforesaid offences.

x. Being aggrieved by the registration of the said F.I.R., the petitioner has filed the present petition seeking quashing of the said F.I.R.

and the criminal proceedings arising therefrom.

Location: ORISSA HIGH COURT, CUTTACK

Date: 24-Mar-2026 16:52:38 II. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner made the following submissions in support