VIJAY KUMAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accused-petitioners have invoked the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashment of the FIR Annexure PI for offences under Sections 420, 467 and 468, Indian Penal Code, Police Station, Kotwali Nabha, inter alia, on the ground that continuance of the Criminal proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of the Criminal Court as civil litigation between the same parties is already pending regarding the genuineness of the agreement dated 2.8.1988 pertaining to sale of 33 per cent share of Swami Rice Mills by Tek Chand Bansal and Baldev Krishan Bansal in favour of the present accused- petitioners.

(2.) THE brief resume of facts are that an agreement dated 2.8.1988 was allegedly executed by Tek Chand Bansal and Baldev Krishan Bansal Complainants for agreeing to sell 33 per cent share in the Swami Rice Mills for two lacs. Out of it 1-1/2 lacs is purported to have been paid as earnest money and the remaining amount of Rs. 50,000/- was required to be paid at the time of the registration of the sale deed. The complainants along with the affidavit of Dev Raj, an attesting witness of this agreement had file a written complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Patiala, on the basis of which first information report Annexure P1 was recorded for the above-referred offences.

(3.) THE learned counsel for the complainant, on the other hand, contends that where criminal offence as well as civil wrong is constituted by the same set of facts then there is no legal impediment in continuance of the parallel proceedings for the same. It is further maintained that the delay in the institution of the criminal proceedings under section 340 of the Code may prove fatal to the case.