H A DEVRAJ Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition filed by the petitioners - accused 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 to 11 filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure praying the Court to quash the FIR and complaint and all further proceedings in Crime No.17/2015 dated 11.1.2015 pending on the file of the Principal Civil Judge (Junior Division) and JMFC, Chitradurga.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are that respondent No.2 herein, who is the complainant, filed the complaint against the petitioners and four others alleging that he had obtained a loan from KSFC in the year 1991 to start an Oil Mill Industrial Area established by KIADB and a total loan of Rs.16.50 lakhs was sanctioned and towards recovery of the loan, the accused took possession of the Oil Mill and locked the premises and later in the year 2005, the plant and machinery was sold to one Ajgar for Rs.1,45,000/- for a lesser price than the market price by accused Nos.1 and 2 and others.

(3.) The second respondent further alleged that on 12.7.2007, the land and building was sold in auction to Regional Oil Seed Growers Co-operative Society Limited represented by its Deputy General Manager for Rs.5.25 lakhs and the building and land was valued around Rs.85,00,000/- and the building was valued at more than Rs.1.00 crore and this was done by KIADB officers Venkataswamy and Prakash - accused Nos.4 and 5 along with KSFC officers, Parappa, Babu, Yellappa and others. Further, when he issued a cheque for Rs.4,90,000/- to KSFC to clear the amount to release his sites though he had given as collateral security, KSFC officials, Ashwathram, Mohan and Babu rejected the cheque with an intention to see that the complainant's property is auctioned and that since he belonged to Scheduled Caste, the accused have auctioned his property worth Rs.2,50,00,000/- for recovering Rs.7,50,000/- and therefore, requested the first respondent to take appropriate action under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Hereinafter referred to as the 'Act', for brevity). Based on the said complaint, an FIR came to be registered in Crime No.17/2015 against the petitioners and four others for the alleged offences under section 3(iv), 3(v) and 4 of the Act. Being aggrieved by the registration of the FIR, the petitioners herein approached this court challenging the legality and correctness of the order of the learned Magistrate on the grounds as mentioned at Ground Nos.20 to 30 of the petition.