Giving criminal colour to civil disputes for quick relief is abuse of law: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reiterated that cloaking a civil dispute with a criminal nature in a bid to get quicker relief is an abuse of the process of law which must be discouraged. (Mitesh Kumar J Sha v The State of Karnataka and ors).The top Court made the observation while allowing appeals filed challenging a Karnataka High Court order. In the process, the Supreme Court quashed criminal proceedings initiated against the appellants for cheating and criminal breach of trust. .The Supreme Court held that the ingredients of these offences were not made out and, hence, a criminal complaint cannot be maintained. ."This Court has at innumerable instances expressed its disapproval for imparting criminal color to a civil dispute, made merely to take advantage of a relatively quick relief granted in a criminal case in contrast to a civil dispute. Such an exercise is nothing but an abuse of the process of law which must be discouraged in its entirety," the Court emphasized..In this regard, the Court also noted the recent judgment of Randheer Singh v The State of UP, in which the apex court had held that criminal proceedings cannot be used as instrument of harassment or to "get a relatively quick relief in contrast to a civil dispute." .By way of background, the the appellants were accused of the cheating and criminal breach of trust in connection with the sale of some flats. A first information report (FIR) came to be lodged against the appellants for cheating, in addition to a civil suit. .The FIR was lodged by the respondent, who had executed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for developing some property with the company in which the appellants were directors. The case was filed after an arbitral award that was not acceptable to the respondent was passed in the matter. The Karnataka High Court had earlier dismissed a plea to quash the criminal proceedings against the appellants. .On appeal, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari were faced with three issues:(i) first, whether the ingredients of the offences were prima facie made out; (ii) second, whether the facts suggest a mere breach of contract or a case of cheating; and (iii) finally, whether the dispute was primarily of a civil nature and hence liable to be quashed..The Court referred to the Indian Penal Code and opined that the ingredients of dishonest and fraudulent intention is necessary to make out the criminal offences alleged against the appellant. On an assessment of the facts, the Court opined that by no stretch were these ingredients present in the instant case. ."Clearly no cogent case regarding a criminal breach of trust or cheating is made out," the Court said..Since the ingredients of the offence were not made out, the Court stated that it is not a case of cheating. .The Bench concluded that the High Court had erred by dismissing the appellant's plea to quash the criminal court proceedings under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). .With these observations, the appeals were allowed. .[Read Judgment]