The Supreme Court has dismissed a Special Leave Petition of man convicted of cheating his partner of Rs 1.5 crore.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M.M. Sundresh dismissed a SLP filed by petitioner Dilip Shivhare being aggrieved by order dated October 25, 2021, passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, wherein the High Court dismissed the petition seeking quashing of FIR under Section 420 and 406 of IPC registered in Habibganj police station, district Bhopal (MP).
The petitioner entered into a partnership deed with complainant Ashok Kumar Dubey on April 10, 2018, for the company name and style of Dilip Shivhare by way of creating 10 percent partnership right in favor of the complainant.
The complainant, time and again, requested for cash from the petitioner, however, the petitioner did not return the amount. It was similarly alleged that a general amount of Rs 1.5 crore has been transferred from the Bank Account of the complainant to the Bank Account of the petitioner.
Counsel Debashis Sur, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the matter was only a civil dispute of recuperation of money among contracting events and no element of criminal activity may be attributed to the petitioner within the present case.
No material of dishonesty and Criminal Breach of Trust is made out in opposition to the petitioner and if any dispute arises with appreciation to the partnership deed, the problem may be stated by an Arbitrator and the award surpassed by the Arbitrator will be binding on all.
The Bench relied on observations made by High Court:
• Petitioner persuaded the objector to become a partner after he has been granted licence, for which no permission from the Excise Department has been obtained.
• Petitioner acted with deception, and on misrepresentation, allured the objector to give the petitioner Rs 80 lakh by way of partnership deed and Rs 70 lakh by way of loan agreement.
• Petitioner is habitual to deceit the innocent people like the complainant and several criminal cases of similar nature are registered at different police stations.
• After getting the bail order from the CJM, Bhopal, he has not deposited Rs 35 lakh within 30 days from the date of order and he is absconding, because of which, arrest warrant has been issued against him and a showcause notice has also been issued to his surety and resultantly, trial is held up for the past 1.5 years.
• Conduct of the petitioner itself shows that he is a person of criminal mentality and profusely enjoying life.
The High Court dismissed the petition relying on “State of Madhya Pradesh Vs. Yogendra Singh Jadon & Anr” Criminal Appeal No 175 of 2020, wherein it has been held that “the power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 cannot be exercised where the allegations are required to be proved in the court of law”. However, it granted liberty to the Trial Court to deal with the contentions and defence of the petitioner according to law and not be influenced by any of the remarks made by HC.
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition after observing that the petitioner is accused in various similar cases and upheld the order passed by the High Court.