P&H High Court orders woman accused of placement fraud to publicise cases against her in newspapers

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently directed a woman accused of overseas placement fraud to publicise allegations against her in at least five newspapers in Punjab [Paramjit Kaur v State of Punjab and Others]

Justice Alok Jain passed the order on Tuesday while considering accused Paramjit Kaur’s plea seeking quashing of an FIR citing a compromise.

The FIR accused her of cheating, criminal breach of trust and violation of Punjab Travel Professional (Regulations) Act.

The Court said allegations of fraud relating to overseas placement, preparation of fake documents and visa process, are serious in nature, which have impacted many innocent lives, wishing to settle abroad.

It added that Kaur’s involvement in several other criminal cases cannot be dealt lightly. Therefore, it said that before considering her prayer for quashing the FIR on the basis of compromise, it is necessary that the public is made aware of her antecedents.

Accordingly, the Court directed Kaur to publish a public notice in at least five widely circulated newspapers in Punjab, out of which at least two shall be Punjabi newspapers.

The public notice must contain her name, address, contact details and particulars of all the FIRs registered against her, including the present case, irrespective of whether the FIRs are pending, decided or quashed, the Court said.

It added that the notice shall also contain the details of all those cases, where the allegations relate to fraudulent overseas placement, misrepresentation or inducement on the basis of fake documents or visas, and the cases which have been settled after repayment of the amount received from the victims.

The Bench said the trial court’s report on the compromise in the present case will be considered only after newspaper copies showing the publication of the public notice are brought on record.

In the case registered in 2022, the complainant had accused of Kaur of demanding ₹3.5 lakh for sending him to Dubai for job of a heavy duty driver. She allegedly received ₹1.82 Lakh from the complainant, as per the police.

However, she denied the allegations stating that she was not a travel agent and the amount had been deposited in her account by co-accused Rakesh Kumar.

In May, the accused approached the Court that the dispute is purely monetary in nature and has been settled now.

Advocate Sandeep Sharma represented the petitioner.

AAG Amandeep Singh Samra appeared for the State.

Advocate Manoj R Sharma represented other respondents.

[Read Order]