DEEPAK KUMAR SHRIVAS Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

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INTRODUCTION

A two-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma passed an Order on 19.02.2024 in Criminal Appeal No. 1007 Of 2024 Special Leave Petition (Crl) No. 9800 Of 2023 in Deepak Kumar Shrivas Vs. State Of Chhattisgarh. and held that such criminal prosecution should not be allowed to continue where the object to lodge the FIR is not for criminal prosecution and for punishing the offender for the offence committed, but for recovery of money under coercion and pressure thereby setting aside the proceedings arising from the FIR 248 of 2022.

FACTS OF THE CASE

1. The Appellant, Deepak Kumar Shrivas made a Complaint dated 06.04.2021 to the Collector, District Janjgir-Champa (Chhattisgarh) alleging that the Respondent No.6 (Rajkumari Maravi) had allured the Appellant that she would secure a job for his brother – Appellant No. 2, Raj Kumar Shivas, as she had good contacts with higher officers and demanded substantial amount for doing this favour. The Appellant got allured and paid Rs. 80,000/- cash at the first instance.
2. Later, an additional demand was made and, according to the Complaint made by the Appellant, he, thereafter, deposited about Rs. 20,000/- in different bank accounts, details of which were provided by Respondent No.6. When nothing happened and no job was provided to his brother, he approached the Respondent No.6 for returning the money paid by him upon which she threatened him of false implication and later on she stopped responding to his calls and started avoiding him.
3. The Collector apparently referred the said Complaint dated 06.04.2021 to the Superintendent of Police of the District Janjgir-Champa for enquiry. The enquiry is alleged to be entrusted by the Superintendent of Police to the Station House Officer, Police Station Shakti, District Janjgir-Champa. The Station House Officer made detailed enquiries and also recorded the statements of the Appellant, the Respondent No.6 and other persons who were sought to be referred to as witnesses and ultimately submitted the Report to the Superintendent of Police on 25.07.2021. The Report mentioned interesting facts, according to which, both the Parties i.e. Appellant and Respondent No.6 were accusing each other of having extracted money to secure a job for their relatives. As already stated, the Appellant was trying to secure a job for his brother, whereas, according to Respondent No.6, the Appellant had taken about Rs.4 Lakhs from her for securing a job for her daughter. In the enquiry it was also found that when no job was provided by the Appellant to her daughter, the Appellant returned some amount by depositing it in her bank account. Both the Parties had alleged that false Complaints were being made against each other. Interestingly when in the enquiry the Station House Officer required the Appellant and Respondent No.6 to produce the relevant documents and also the details of the call records and recorded conversations, they failed to provide any such material. Accordingly, it was recommended that the Complaint deserved to be closed.
4. Thereafter the Respondent No. 6 was successful in lodging an FIR against the Appellant on 27.07.2022. According to the contents of the FIR, an amount of Rs.4 Lakhs had been taken by the Appellant and his brother, the other co-Accused, for providing a job to the daughter of Respondent No.6. The said amount was paid in April, 2019. The transaction was said to be purely in cash and there were no bank transactions. Before registering the FIR in this case, an enquiry was made and a report was submitted to the Sub-Divisional Officer, who directed for registration of an FIR. Accordingly, the Police registered an FIR 248 of 2022 against the Appellant based on the Complaint of the Respondent No. 6. In this enquiry, it was found that both Parties have made allegations against each other of taking money for providing a job.
5. The Appellant filed WPCR No.703 of 2022 under Article 226 of the Constitution before the High Court of Chhattisgarh seeking quashing of the FIR and the proceedings arising therefrom. The said Petition was dismissed by the High Court, vide Order dated 11.07.2023.
6. Aggrieved by the Order dated 11.07.2023, the Appellant filed Criminal Appeal No. 1007 Of 2024 Special Leave Petition (Crl) No. 9800 Of 2023 before the Supreme Court.

ISSUES RAISED

1. Can a chargesheet or a prosecution complaint be filed in piecemeal without first completing the investigation of the case?
2. Whether the filling of such a chargesheet without completing the investigation will extinguish the right if an accused the right of an accused for grant of default bail?
3. Whether the remand of an accused can be continued by the trial court during the pendency of investigation beyond the stipulated time as prescribed by the CrPC?

ARGUMENTS

Petition`s Arguments: Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that on the earlier occasion upon a complaint submitted by the appellant to the Collector of the district, an enquiry was conducted in which similar allegations against each other were made by both the sides which were not found to be substantiated and, therefore, lodging of the impugned FIR after about one year of the said enquiry, is mala fide and an abuse of the process of law. It was further submitted that the impugned FIR is a counterblast and has been maliciously lodged only to resist the appellant from recovering the amount paid by him to the respondent no.6. It is also submitted that the alleged transaction according to the FIR is of April, 2019 whereas the FIR has been lodged in July, 2022 after more than three years and, therefore, on the ground of delay, the alleged FIR deserves to be quashed.

Respondent`s Arguments: On the other hand, learned counsel for the State of Chhattisgarh as also learned counsel for the respondents have submitted that a cognizable offence was disclosed in the FIR and as such the High Court has rightly dismissed the petition; the investigation must be allowed to continue and if ultimately the police report is submitted under section 173(2) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 finding the appellant prima facie guilty of the charge on the basis of the evidence collected during the investigation, the appellant would have adequate remedy of assailing the charge sheet and also claiming discharge at the stage of framing of charges. There is no justification for scuttling the investigation which may ultimately not only deprive the respondent no.6 of her hard- earned money but also the offence committed by the appellant would go unpunished. It was also submitted that it was a clear case of cheating as the appellant had deceitfully induced the respondent no.6 to provide a job to her daughter by taking huge amount of money and thereafter neither providing the job nor returning the money.

JUDGEMENT

VIKRAM NATH.J –

1. Leave granted 
2. As a law enforcement agency, the police force shoulders the vital responsibilities of preserving public order, guarding social harmony and upholding the foundation of justice. However, the current case, full of counter-accusations of financial impropriety and broken promises, highlights the complex matters that occasionally make their way into the hands of the police force. Beyond the immediate contours of the case, a broader question emerges regarding the balancing of interests that ought to be done between addressing unscrupulous private grievance and safeguarding public interests. From the counter-allegations levelled against each other between the parties in the present case , it becomes evident that the police find itself entangled in the irrelevant and trivial details of such unethical private issues , diverting the resources away from the pursuit of more consequential matters. The valuable time of the police is consumed in the investigations disputes that seem more suited for civil resolution. This underscores the need for a judicious allocation of law enforcement resources, emphasizing the importance of channelling their efforts towards the matters of greater societal consequences.
3. By means of this appeal, challenge is to the corrections of the judgement and order dated 11/07/2023 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Chhattisgarh in WPCR No.703 of 2022 dismissing the writ petition of the appellant for quashing the criminal proceedings arising out of FIR bearing Crime No.248 of 2022. 
4. Learned counsel for the parties would submit that the issue raised in this petition is squarely covered by order dated 28.11.2017 passed by this Court in WPS No.2530 of 2017 (Mukesh Kumar Patel and another Vs. State of Chhattisgarh and another) and batch of petitions wherein the circular dated 23.04.2016 has been quashed, petitions allowed and it has been declared that the petitioners therein shall be entitled to obtain the benefit of revised pay-scale on completion of 8 years service by including the services rendered by them on a lower post or on the same post.
5.  In view of the aforesaid submission and the impugned order and action is based on circular dated 23.04.2016 which has been quashed in the case referred to herein above, the petition also deserves to be allowed with the direction that the petitioner(s) shall be entitled to obtain the benefit of revised pay-scale on completion of 8 years service by including the services rendered by him / her on a lower post or on the same post.

ANALYSIS

The appellant filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution before the High Court of Chhattisgarh for quashing the FIR and the proceedings arising therefrom. The said petition has since been dismissed by the impugned order giving rise to filing of the present appeal. In conclusion, certain key observations from the factual matrix warrant a closer reflection. Prima facie, the conduct exhibited by the parties involved appears tainted with suspicion, casting a shadow over the veracity of their claims. The report from the previous inquiry reflects a convoluted landscape and unveils a trail of unethical, maybe even criminal, behaviour from both parties. The unexplained inordinate delay in bringing these allegations to the police’s attention despite knowledge of previous inquiry, raises even more doubts and adds a layer of scepticism to the authenticity of the claims. The facts stated, as well as the prior inquiry, reveal a shared culpability between the parties, indicative of a complex web of deceit, and unethical transactions where even civil remedies may not be sustainable. Thus, the object of this dispute, manifestly rife with mala fide intentions of only recovering the tainted money by coercion and threat of criminal proceedings, cannot be allowed to proceed further and exploit the time and resources of the law enforcement agency. As parting suggestions, it becomes imperative to state that the police should exercise heightened caution when drawn into dispute pertaining to such unethical transactions between private parties which appear to be prima facie contentious in light of previous inquiries or investigations. The need for vigilance on the part of the police is paramount, and a discerning eye should be cast upon cases where unscrupulous conduct appears to eclipse the pursuit of justice. This case exemplifies the need for a circumspect approach in discerning the genuine from the spurious and thus ensuring that the resources of the state are utilised for matters of true societal import.

CONCLUSION

For all the reasons recorded above, we are of the view that such criminal prosecution should not be allowed to continue where the object to lodge the FIR is not for criminal prosecution and for punishing the offender for the offence committed but for recovery of money under coercion and pressure and also for all the other reasons stipulated above. We, accordingly, allow this appeal, and after setting aside the impugned order passed by the High Court, quash the entire proceedings arising out of FIR 248 of 2022. 

REFERENCE

1. SSC Online 
2. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/89035207/
3. https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2023/30663/30663_2023_8_1501_50548_Judgement_19-Feb-2024.pdf

Written by RIYA SHARMA an intern under legal vidhiya  

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