NISHANT AGRAWAL Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The two petitioners herein seek quashment of FIR dated 07/12/2012 in Crime No. 178/2017 registered at Police Station Batauli, Distt. Surguja for offences punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 read with Section 34 of the IPC and Section 120B of the IPC and Sections 3(1)(?)(?), 3(2)(v)(?) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

(2.) The challenge in the instant petition has been made on the following factual backdrop :-

(3.) Mr. Dev Ashish Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioners, would submit that the petitioners merely stood as attesting witnesses during the execution of the two sale deeds dated 16/09/2010 and as such, they cannot be held responsible for commission of the aforesaid offences as they have simply attested the signatures of the sellers mentioned in the sale deeds and that would not attract any criminal liability. He would rely upon the decisions rendered by the Privy Council in the matters of Banga Chandra Dhur Biswas v. Jagat Kishore Acharjya Chowdhuri , 1916 AIR(PC) 110 and Pandurang Krishnaji v. M. Tukaram , 1922 AIR(PC) 20 to buttress his submission that the attestation of a deed by itself estops a man from denying nothing whatsoever except that he has witnessed the execution of the deed or that he knew of its contents or that he consented to the transaction which the document effects and as such, merely on the basis of the attestation of the sale deeds, no criminal liability can be fastened upon the petitioners. He would further submit no offences are made out against the petitioners and prosecution against the petitioners is nothing but sheer abuse of the process of the Court, therefore, the FIR lodged against the petitioners deserves to be quashed.