The Rajasthan High Court while quashing the First Information Report (FIR) has held that the civil dispute cannot be criminalised and reiterated the limits of criminal law.
The bench of Justice Farjand Ali has observed that a multitude of cases are brought before the Court wherein purely civil disputes are given the colour of criminal offences. This Court, on numerous occasions, has rightly quashed such FIRs, recognizing that the underlying matter pertains to a civil dispute rather than any criminal wrongdoing.
The bench stated that to establish a charge of criminal conspiracy, there must be a meeting of minds and an agreement to commit an unlawful act, supported by some material evidence. Mere assumptions or conjectures, without any substantive proof, cannot sustain a charge under this section. A bare reading of the aforementioned provisions reflects that the petitioners have not committed any of the offences alleged, as there are no direct accusations made against them. In the absence of any concrete and credible evidence, it is unjust and impermissible to prosecute a person merely on the basis of bald allegations.
The FIR was lodged by the complainant accusing the petitioners of cheating in a land transaction. The petitioner agreed to sell agricultural land to the complainant for a consideration of Rs. 24,80,000/- and a sale agreement was executed wherein Rs. 2,50,000/- was paid as earnest money.
Further payments totalling ₹18,60,000/- were allegedly made by the complainant, but the sale deed was not executed. Instead, the land was later sold to a third party, Anil Gelda, through a registered sale deed. The petitioners, however, assert that the transaction was purely civil in nature and arose from non-performance of contractual terms by the buyer, Lalit Duggad, and that only ₹10,60,000/- was received.
Hence, the petitioners have approached this Court seeking quashing of the FIR on the ground that the dispute is civil in nature and the criminal proceedings amount to abuse of process of law.
The court while quashing the FIR, held that the dispute was purely civil in nature, with no material to support dishonest or fraudulent intent at the inception. There was no entrustment of property to attract Section 406 IPC. No forged document or criminal inducement was demonstrated that could sustain a case under Section 420 IPC. The FIRs appeared to have been lodged with a view to exert undue pressure and were an abuse of the process of law.
Case Details
Case Title: Lalit Kumar Duggar Versus State Of Rajasthan
Case No.: S.B. Criminal Misc(Pet.) No. 6915/2022
Date: 22 /05/2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Naman Mohnot
Counsel For Respondent: Dy.G.A. Vikram Singh Rajpurohit, AGA Ravindra Singh Bhati
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