BIRBAL RAM ARYA Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner in this application has prayed for quashing the entire criminal proceedings pending against them in the court of Sri P.K. Shukla, Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribagh, and also order of cognizance dated 4.3.2002 whereby cognizance of offences under Section 468/420/120B IPC has been taken against the petitioners in complaint case No. 901 of 2001. Primary grounds advanced on behalf of the petitioner is that dispute relating to the joint ancestral properties between the petitioners and the complainant No. 2, who are cousins, is purely of civil nature and even on reading the entire allegations in the complaint petition filed by complainant, no criminal offence whatsoever is made out against the petitioners and therefore the continuance of the proceedings against them is misuse of the process of the court.

(2.) FACTS of the case constituting the background may be mentioned briefly as follows:

(3.) INHERENT powers under Section 182 of the Code of Criminal Procedure though reserved in this Court and is meant to prevent injustice and abuse of process of law, but the power is to be exercised with restraint and only where it is the demand of justice. Normally, where an order of cognizance is challenged and called upon to be quashed, this Court in exercise of its power needs to adopt a cautious approach. In the case of Medchi Chemicals and Pharma (P) Ltd v. Biological E Limited reported in 2000 (2) Eastern Criminal Cases 524 (SC), it has been held that the complaint has to be examined as a whole without going into the merits of the allegations made therein and if a prima facie case is made out disclosing ingredients of offences alleged against the accused, the court should not quash the complaint, but if the allegations do not constitute any offence as alleged and appear to be patently absurd and improper, the court should not hesitate to quash the complaint. It has further been held that in a case where allegations are under Sections 415, 418 and 420 of the Indian penal Code, mens rea is an essential ingredient of the offence. The intention of the accused persons therefore needs to be examined from the allegations made in the complaint.