ICEBERG INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, learned counsel for the State and learned counsel for opposite party no. 2.

(2.) The petitioners question the order of cognizance and their entire prosecution in Complaint Case No. 2505C of 2009 under Sections 420, 120B of the I.P.C. pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class at Patna.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that reading the complaint as it is, it discloses a purely contractual relationship between the parties with regard to certain construction works for which payments are admitted to have been made at more than one stage of the construction, when allegedly certain payments have remained due and which was not being paid despite repeated requests. The allegations therefore make out a civil dispute primarily for payment of money arising out of a contractual relationship. Resort to the process of criminal law was an abuse of process of the Court. He relies upon a judgment reported in Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma and Others V/s. State of Bihar and Another, 2000 4 SCC 168 and Prabhat Kumar Kanodia V/s. The State of Bihar & Others., 2009 4 PLJR 99