ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners have filed the present petition for quashing of FIR No. 157/2023, dtd. 29/8/2023, registered at police station Ghumarwin District Bilaspur for the commission of offences punishable under Ss. 147, 452, 448, 504 and 506 read with Sec. 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present petition are that the informant made a complaint to the police, asserting that the petitioners entered his shop on 29/8/2023 at about 3 PM and gave beatings to Hussain Akhtar The informant had purchased the building from Shehnaz Mohammad, and he was residing with his family in the building. The petitioners had also attacked the informant before the incident, and he apprehended danger to his life. The police registered an FIR against the petiti ners and commenced investigations.

(3.) Being aggrieved by the registration of the FIR, the petitioners have filed the present petition, asserting that the title and possession of the property are already sub judice and subject matter of multiple civil suits pending before various civil Courts since the year 2011. An ad-interim injunction was ranted in civil suit number 101/2011 on 5/12/2011, which was made absolute on 1/6/2012. The entry by the petitioners into the disputed property while asserting their legal right of ownership and possession does not constitute any offence. The petitioners and the informant belong to the same family, and they were residing in the same property. Hence, the essential ingredients of the offences alleged in the FIR are not established. The petitioner no. 1 and his family members were in settled possession of the property, and they were illegally dispossessed by Punjab National Bank on the pretext of default in the repayment of the loan taken by the respondent no. 5 from the bank. The bank illegally dispossessed the petitioner no. 1 and his family members on 9/6/2023 through a judicial process instituted in the absence of the petitioner no. 1. The Bank handed over the possession f the property to the Respondent no. 5 during the pendency of the proceedings pending before the Debts Recovery Tribunal Chandigarh. Respondent no. 5 exec ted a sale deed in favour of Respondent no. 4 after obtaining the physical possession. The sale deed is an abuse of the process of law and is subject to the outcome of Civil Suit no. 101/2011 pending before the competent court. The civil dispute is being converted into a criminal case. The petitioners have a bona fide claim over the property, and their entry into the property does not constitute any offence. Therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the FIR and consequential proceedings arising out of it be quashed.