D.Sadaiah vs The State Of Telangana Rep. By P.P ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 3727 Tel

        THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURENDER

           CRIMINAL PETITION NO.10165 OF 2017

ORDER:

1. This Criminal Petition is filed by the petitioner/Accused to

quash the proceedings in C.C.No.1489 of 2017 on the file of

Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Karimnagar.

2. The case of the 2nd respondent is that he has purchased

land by way of sale agreement from one P.Mallaiah and

Chedraiah/Ramulu in Sy.No.1377, 283/B, 1472/B and 1472,

Lambadipally village of Chigurumamidi Mandal. As the said two

vendors were not coming forward to register the property in his

favour, he approached the petitioner for settlement of the issue

with the said two vendors. Petitioner has obtained signatures on

Rs.100/- stamp paper for the purpose of settling the dispute

and later in relation to the property in Sy.No.282/B, 283/A and

283/B Plot No.7, situated at Theegalaguntapally village,

Karimnagar Mandal to an extent of 250 sq.yds, got prepared a

sale agreement and filed OS No.89 of 2015 on the file of Senior

Civil Judge, Karimnagar for specific performance and has also

obtained interim injunction in IA No.289 of 2015 on 1.9.2015.

Aggrieved by the alleged acts of cheating and forgery, criminal

complaint was filed.

3. On the basis of the said complaint, police registered case

for the offences of cheating and fabrication of document.

4. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the said

alleged fabricated document is to be adjudicated by the Civil

Court in O.S.No.89 of 2015. In the said circumstances, the

question of proceeding with the criminal case does not arise.

5. On the other hand, it was argued on behalf of the

respondent that since the document was fabricated, the

ingredients of Sections 468 and 420 of IPC for forgery and using

the forged document as genuine are made out. In the said

circumstances, the question of quashing the proceedings does

not arise. It is for the trial Court to decide after giving an

opportunity to both parties and adducing evidence, to conclude

whether an offence is made out or not.

6. Admittedly, the present criminal complaint was filed more

than a year after the petitioner filed civil suit O.S.No.89 of 2015

on the file of Senior Civil Judge, Karimnagar. It appears that the

criminal case was filed to settle civil disputes. The document

was not sent to an expert to ascertain fabrication. Signature on

the document is admitted, however the 2nd respondent claims

that the signatures were obtained fraudulently, which is an

afterthought. The said document is core issue that has to be

decided by the civil Court.

7. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Usha Chakraborty v. State

of West Bengal 1 held that when the issue involved which is of

civil nature and the respondent having approached the

jurisdictional civil court by instituting a civil suit and it is

pending, permitting criminal proceedings against the

petitioner/accused cannot be permitted as the same is abuse of

process of Court.

8. Placing reliance on the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court in Usha Chakraborty's case (supra), since the facts in the

above case and in the present case are similar, this Court

deems it appropriate to quash the proceedings against the

petitioner herein.

9. In the result, the proceedings against petitioner/accused

in C.C.No.1489 of 2017 on the file of Additional Judicial

Magistrate of First Class, Karimnagar, are hereby quashed.

10. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. Consequently,

miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.

_________________ K.SURENDER, J Date: 08.11.2023 kvs

2023 SCC OnLine SC 90