SINDHU PARAMESWARAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners are the accused in Crime No.356/16 of the Ernakulam Town South Police Station, registered for the offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The allegation against the petitioners is that they, with intend to make unlawful gains by cheating and defrauding the defacto complainant, offered him to sell 8.05 Ares of property belonging to the first petitioner for a consideration at the rate of 5,50,000/ - per cent and by falsely representing that the licence in favour of the first petitioner for running the resort in the property would be renewed, entered into a contract of sale on 28.02.2015 with the defacto complainant and obtained an amount of 25 lakhs as advance, and also caused the defacto complainant to carry out maintenance works for 9,50,000/ - to the buildings in the property, thereby causing wrongful loss of 34,50,000/ - to the defacto complainant.

(2.) According to the petitioners, the transaction is purely one of civil in nature and the agreement is essentially one for sale of immovable property with a building thereon and nothing more. According to the petitioners, a civil matter is presently transformed into a criminal case by giving a false cloak to the civil transaction. According to the petitioners, the defacto complainant had backed out from the agreement and has not cared to purchase the property, even though the first petitioner was present at the station for executing the sale deed as agreed.

(3.) According to the learned counsel for the petitioners, the present attempt of the defacto complainant through the Crime registered against the petitioners is nothing but an attempt to have a short cut to get the matter settled forcibly and to get back the advance amount as well as the amount allegedly invested by the defacto complainant towards maintenance works in the property.