SC: Reserved Category Candidate Who Availed Prelims Relaxation Cannot Claim an Unreserved Seat  ||  SC: Public Sector Enterprises Cannot Act Against Retired Employees Without Clear Rules  ||  Supreme Court: Single FIR is Permissible in Mass Cheating Cases Arising From One Conspiracy  ||  SC: Courts Cannot Take Cognizance of Time-Barred Cheque Bounce Cases Without Condoning Delay  ||  SC: Exoneration in Disciplinary Proceedings Does Not Always Bar Criminal Prosecution  ||  SC: Judge Cannot Be Presumed Biased Merely Because a Litigant’s Relative Is Police or Court Staff  ||  Delhi HC: Delays From Medical Review Cannot Justify Ante-Dated Seniority For BSF Candidates  ||  Allahabad HC: Being ‘Proclaimed Offender’ Does Not Completely Bar Grant of Anticipatory Bail  ||  Delhi HC: Abortion by a Married Woman For Marital Discord is Legal under The MTP Act  ||  NCLT Kochi: Fraud Has No Time Limit and Directors Cannot Use Delay As a Defense    

Naresh Kumar and Ors. Vs. The State of Karnataka and Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 196) - (Supreme Court) (12 Mar 2024)

Mere breach of contract, by one of the parties, would not attract prosecution for criminal offence in every case

MANU/SC/0193/2024

Criminal

The Appellants before present Court have challenged the order of the High Court by which their petition under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) for quashing the FIR has been dismissed. The case of the Appellants before the High Court was that, the FIR which was instituted by the complainant i.e. Respondent No. 2 is primarily a civil dispute and has no criminal element and the entire criminal proceedings initiated against the Appellants is nothing but an abuse of the process and consequently, they had invoked the extraordinary powers of the High Court under Section 482 of the CrPC.

The dispute between the parties is primarily, civil in nature. It is after all a question of how many bicycles the complainant had assembled and the dispute between the parties is only regarding the figure of bicycles and consequently of the amount liable to be paid. This is a civil dispute. The complainant has not been able to establish that the intention to cheat the complainant was there with the Appellants right from the beginning.

In the case of Paramjeet Batra v. State of Uttarakhand, this Court recognized that, although the inherent powers of a High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should be exercised sparingly, yet the High Court must not hesitate in quashing such criminal proceedings which are essentially of a civil nature.

Essentially, the present dispute between the parties relates to a breach of contract. A mere breach of contract, by one of the parties, would not attract prosecution for criminal offence in every case, as held by this Court in Sarabjit Kaur v. State of Punjab and Anr. Similarly, dealing with the distinction between the offence of cheating and a mere breach of contractual obligations, this Court, in Vesa Holdings (P) Ltd. v. State of Kerala, has held that every breach of contract would not give rise to the offence of cheating, and it is required to be shown that the Accused had fraudulent or dishonest intention at the time of making the promise.

In the case at hand, the dispute between the parties was not only essentially of a civil nature but in this case the dispute itself stood settled later. There is no criminal element here and consequently the case here is nothing but an abuse of the process. The order of the High Court is set aside. Appeal allowed.

Tags : CIVIL DISPUTE   FIR   QUASHING OF  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2026 - All Rights Reserved