The Court upheld the quashing of an FIR due to insufficient evidence supporting allegations of fraud.

O R D E R

1) Leave granted.

2) Application for deletion of deceased appellant No.1 (Mrs. Shaalini) from the array of parties is allowed.

3) Arising out of impugned order dated 30.11.2021 passed by the Madras High Court rejecting quash petition, [Digitally signed by] preferred by the appellants under Section

482 Cr.P.C ., [ Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ], the present appeal has been filed.

4) After hearing learned counsel for the parties, the short question that arises for consideration in Signature Not Verified the present case is:

NIDHI AHUJA Date: 2025.10.18

13:39:01 IST Reason:

1 Criminal Original Petition No. 7256 of 2017

The complainant took admission in the year 2006 pursuant to an advertisement, affiliation of the Institute, namely, Merit International Institute of Technology, was from Alagappa University. The complainant passed the degree of Bachelor of Studies (B.S.) in Information Technology, Communications and Software Engineering in the year 2010. At the relevant point of time, any advertisement indicating the affiliation of the Institute from Anna University has not been produced except to make a statement orally. In absence of any corroboration of document and in particular, when the fact remains that the complainant applied in furtherance to the advertisement wherein the affiliation was shown from Alagappa University and not from Anna University, registration of FIR No.265 of 2012 for offences under Sections 420 and 120B IPC , [ Indian Penal Code, 1860 ], is not proper, in particular, when the documentary evidence is not available on record.

5) In this view of the matter, the High Court was not justified to refuse the quash the FIR and dismiss the petition by an order impugned.

6) Accordingly, the present appeal stands allowed; the order impugned stands set aside. FIR No. 265 of 2012 dated 15.10.2012 registered with Police Station West Town, District Nilgiris, for the offence under Sections 420 and 120B IPC against the appellants stands quashed. In consequence thereto, all proceedings pending in this regard shall stand closed.

7) Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.

……………………………………………………, J.

[ J.K. MAHESHWARI ]

……………………………………………………, J.

[ VIJAY BISHNOI ]

New Delhi;

October 16, 2025.

ITEM NO.24 COURT NO.4 SECTION II-C S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Criminal Appeal No. 4543/2025 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 2551 of 2022)

[Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 30.11.2021 in Criminal O.P. No. 7256/2017 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras]

SHAALINI (DECEASED) & ORS. Appellant(s)

VERSUS THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU & ANR. Respondent(s)

(IA No. 6909/2025 - DELETING THE NAME OF PETITIONER/RESPONDENT)

Date : 16-10-2025 This matter was called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.K. MAHESHWARI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAY BISHNOI For Appellant(s) : Mr. P.R. Raman, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Amol Chitale, Adv.

Mrs. Pragya Baghel, AOR For Respondent(s) : Mr. Hasan Mohamed Jinnah, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Mr. S. Arun Pandi, Adv.

Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv.

Mr. K. S. Badhrinathan, Adv.

Mr. S. Thananjayan, AOR UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

O R D E R

1) Application for deletion of deceased appellant No.1(Mrs. Shaalini) from the array of parties is allowed.

2) Leave granted.

3) The appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order.

Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.