GUNANAND SAH SON OF LATE BOKAI SAH; MD SHAFI AHMAD SON OF LATE JAMIL AHMAD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR; RAI JATAN BHAGAT SON OF LATE KAMLA PRASAD BHAGAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two petitioners, while invoking inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, have prayed for quashing of entire criminal proceeding in Araria P.S. Case No. 350 of 1997 as well as order dated 9.7.1999 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Araria in Araria P.S. Case No. 350 of 1997, whereby the learned Magistrate has taken cognizance of offences under Sections 419, 420, 120B, 421, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) Short fact of the case is that a complaint vide Complaint Case No. 1279 of 1997 was filed on 9.9.1997 by Opp. Party No. 2 alleging therein commission of several offences by the petitioners including fabrication of deed in respect of land, appertaining to Khata No. 249 Khesra No. 1982, situated in Village Araria. After filing of the complaint petition, the complaint was referred to police for its registration and investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and thereafter an F.I.R. vide Araria PS. Case No. 350 of 1997 was registered on 14.10.1997 for offences under Sections 419, 420, 120B, 423, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. After registering F.I.R. police conducted investigation. However, the police after collecting materials during the investigation came to the conclusion that dispute in between the parties was purely civil in nature, and as such, instead of forwarding the petitioners to face trial, they were exonerated and police submitted final report. After submission of the final report, the complainant filed a protest petition and thereafter the learned Magistrate by the impugned order has taken cognizance of the offences, as mentioned above.

(3.) Sri Amish Kumar, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners, while pressing the present petition, submits that the learned Magistrate in a mechanical manner, only on the basis of protest petition, has taken cognizance of the offence that too in a case, where the police had already submitted final form with an opinion that the dispute was purely civil in nature. It was further submitted that the complainant/informant had maliciously filed a complaint petition and thereafter to ascertain the veracity in the complaint petition it was referred to the police and on the truthful material collected during the investigation, the police submitted final form. It was argued that it was not an isolated case, but prior to the filing of the present complaint petition, which was subsequently registered as an F.I.R., the complainant and his brother had taken several attempts to falsely implicate the petitioners in criminal case with sole object to dispossess the petitioners from the land in question. It was argued that the petitioners had got the land in question purchased from one Jawahar Bhagat on 7.10.1985 and since then they were in peaceful possession over the land and they were regularly paying rent in respect of the said land. To the reasons best known to the complainant/informant in the year 1993 itself, a case was instituted by him against petitioner No. 1 vide Araria P.S. Case No. 85 of 1993. In that case also, allegation was mainly related to the land in question. The said F.I.R. was registered for the offence under Section 447 of the Indian Penal Code, in which after order of cognizance, the petitioner No. 1 had approached this Court by filing a quashing application vide Cr. WJ.C. No. 258 of 1997 and this Court after hearing the parties and considering the facts that it was a civil dispute had quashed the entire prosecution in Araria P.S. Case No. 85 of 1993. A photo copy of the order dated 23.9.1997 passed in Cr. WJ.C. No. 258 of 1997 has been brought on record as Annexure-5 to the present petition.