DR SONIA VERMA & ANR.versusTHE STATE OF HARYANA & ANR.

          [2024] 3 S.C.R. 673 : 2024 INSC 227

                 Dr Sonia Verma & Anr.
                            v.
               The State of Haryana & Anr.
             (Criminal Appeal No. 1433 of 2024)
                         07 March 2024
   [Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ]

                    Issue for Consideration
The issue for consideration was a challenge to a decision of the
High Court of Punjab & Haryana, refusing to quash the F.I.R.
registered u/s. 506, 420, 34, 120-B and 467 of the Penal Code,
1860, against the Appellants/Accused, on the ground that the
dispute between the parties was essentially civil in nature.

                           Headnotes
Criminal Law – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s. 482 –
Inherent powers – Scope of exercise of power for quashing
the criminal proceedings:
Held: The High Court ought to have quashed the criminal
proceedings when it was apprised of the fact that the substance of
the Criminal Complaint served only a cast of doubt on the validity
of a commercial transaction and an appropriate civil remedy was
already being pursued. [Para 17]
Abuse of Law – Dispute essentially civil in nature, given a
cloak of criminality – Circumstances:
Held: Circumstances such as the Complainant/ Respondent
No. 2 registering the FIR after the filing of the Civil Suit by the
Accused/Appellants, the Complainant selectively implicating
the Appellants in a Criminal case, the Complainant’s failure to
contest the matter before this Hon’ble Court, and the bonafides
of the Accused/Appellants in paying the rent before their alleged
purchase of the Suit property, can be concluded as an attempt
on the part of the Complainant to shroud a civil dispute with a
cloak of criminality. [Para 15]

                        Case Law Cited
     Paramjeet Batra v. State of Uttarakhand (2013) 11 SCC
     673– relied on.
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                                 List of Acts
       Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

                              List of Keywords
       Criminal proceedings; Quashing; Inherent Powers.

                             Case Arising From
       CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.1433
       of 2024
       From the Judgment and Order dated 19.07.2023 of the High Court
       of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in CRMM No.34512 of 2023.
                          Appearances for Parties
       A.Sirajuddin, Sr. Adv., Chand Qureshi, Mrs. Arpana Soni, Ms. Preeti
       Chauhan, Mohit Yadav, Mrs. Aarti Pal, Surendra Ramgopal Agarwal,
       Waseem Akhtar Khan, Advs. for the Appellants.
       Abhinav Bajaj, A.A.G., Saksham Ojha, Samar Vijay Singh, Keshav
       Mittal, Ms. Sabarni Som, Fateh Singh, Advs. for the Respondents.
                  Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court
                                       Order
1.     Leave granted.
2.     The Appellants before us are aggrieved by the order dated
       19.07.2023 passed in CRM-M-34512-2023 (the ‘Impugned Order’)
       whereby the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh
       refused to quash FIR No. 375/2022 dated 31.10.2022 (the
       ‘Subject FIR’), registered against the Appellants for offences under
       Section(s) 506, 420, 34, 120-B and 467 of the Indian Penal Code,
       1860 (the ‘IPC’).
       Brief Facts:
3.     The uncontested facts are as follows: (i) the Appellants are doctors
       who are running the Surendra Maternity and Trauma Hospital (the
       ‘Hospital’), located in village Suthani, Tehsil Bawal, Rewari, Haryana;
       (ii) the Appellants were paying rent to Respondent No. 2’s son at the
       rate of Rs. 25,000/- per month for the Hospital property until August
       2022; (iii) the original owner of the land upon which the Hospital
       stands was Kaptan Singh i.e., husband of Respondent No. 2.
[2024] 3 S.C.R.                                                         675

          Dr Sonia Verma & Anr. v. The State of Haryana & Anr.


4.   Thereafter, as per the Appellants version, vide registered sale deed
     No. 1485 dated 23.08.2022 (the ‘RSD’), the Appellants purchased
     the land on which the Hospital stood i.e., Khewat No. 1, Khatauni
     No. 1, Mustkil No. 33, Killa No. 26, village Suthani, Tehsil Bawal,
     Rewari, Haryana (the ‘Suit Property’), for a sale consideration of
     Rs. 43,00,000/-, from one Sher Singh. Pursuant to this purchase,
     the Appellants discontinued the payment of rent to Respondent No.
     2’s son.
5.   Fearing dispossession from the Suit Property, the Appellants filed Civil
     Suit No. 294/2022 on 27.09.2022, before the Court of Addl. Civil Judge,
     Bawal, seeking a decree of permanent injunction against Respondent
     No. 2, her husband and one Babu Lal (the ‘Civil Suit’). In the Civil
     Suit, an order granting ad-interim injunction was passed in favour
     of the Appellants on 18.11.2022. While granting this protection, the
     Court found that the Appellants had a prima facie case as they had
     produced three registered sale deeds carrying similar description of
     the Suit Property in order to establish the chain of transfer leading
     to their ownership. As per the Appellants, the Suit Property was
     first transferred by Kaptan Singh to Babu Lal vide Sale Deed dated
     20.07.2020 and thereafter from Babu Lal to Sher Singh vide Sale
     Deed dated 22.08.2022.
6.   On 29.10.2022, FIR No. 372/2022 was registered by the Appellants
     against three persons, including Kaptan Singh and son of Respondent
     No. 2 for offences under Section(s) 506, 120-B of the IPC. The
     Appellants alleged that the accused persons had fraudulently collected
     rent from them for a prolonged period, despite lacking ownership over
     the Suit Property and were continuously threatening the Appellants
     to vacate the Suit Property.
7.   Two days later, the Subject FIR was registered against the
     Appellants and Sher Singh by Respondent No. 2, who claimed
     that she was the owner in possession of the land upon which the
     Hospital stood, citing it as Killa No. 8, instead of Killa No. 26.
     Respondent No. 2 stated that the property was transferred in her
     favour by Kaptan Singh vide Transfer Deed dated 22.08.2017
     and that she has never alienated the property. She alleged that
     the Appellants, in collusion with Sher Singh forged the RSD and
     wrongly entered the area of the property in the RSD with the
     intention of usurping her property.
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8.     A charge-sheet was filed in respect of the Subject FIR on 17.03.2023
       and as on date, the Appellants have been granted anticipatory bail
       by the High Court.
9.     The Appellants then approached the High Court under Section 482
       CrPC seeking quashing of the Subject FIR. Vide the Impugned Order,
       the High Court held that the allegations relate to Killa No. 8 in Mustkil
       No. 33, which the Appellants never claimed to have purchased.
       On this basis, the Court held that the ingredients of the offences
       alleged were made out against the Appellants and consequently, the
       application for quashing was dismissed.
       Contentions & Analysis:
10. Learned Counsel for the Appellants forcefully contends that the
    dispute between the parties is essentially civil in nature and as the
    appropriate civil remedy is already being pursued by the Appellants,
    the criminal proceedings arising out of the Subject FIR amount to
    an abuse of the process of law. In this context, it is also urged
    that the High Court erred in failing to consider the litigation history
    between the parties i.e., the pending Civil Suit and the FIR filed by
    the Appellants against the family of Respondent No. 2.
11. Per Contra, Learned Counsel for the State of Haryana submits that
    there exists sufficient prima facie evidence for the Trial Court to
    proceed against the Appellants and that the mere existence of a civil
    profile does not justify quashing of criminal proceedings.
12. It is pertinent to note that despite being served, Respondent No. 2
    has not contested the matter before us.
13. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the
    record.
14. In the considered opinion of this Court, the dispute herein, which forms
    the genesis of the criminal proceedings initiated by Respondent No.
    2 is entirely civil in nature i.e., whether the Appellants are in lawful
    possession of the Suit Property or, in essence, whether the RSD is
    valid. To that extent, the Appellants have already taken recourse to
    the appropriate civil remedy to establish their claim before the Civil
    Court. The grievance of Respondent No. 2 i.e., whether the RSD is
    forged and fabricated is an issue that will be considered by the Civil
    Court while making its determination.
[2024] 3 S.C.R.                                                               677

           Dr Sonia Verma & Anr. v. The State of Haryana & Anr.


15. A closer examination of the surrounding facts and circumstances
    fortifies the conclusion that an attempt has been made by the
    Respondent No. 2 to shroud a civil dispute with a cloak of criminality.
    The following aspects of the case are pertinent to note: (i) Respondent
    No. 2 registered the Subject FIR subsequent to the filing of the Civil
    Suit and the filing of FIR No. 372/2022 by the Appellants; (ii) the
    chain of sale deeds produced by the Appellants contain identical
    descriptions of the Suit Property and yet Respondent No. 2 has
    pursued criminal action only against the Appellants and Sher Singh
    and not against Babu Lal and her husband; (iii) Respondent No. 2
    has failed to contest the present matter before this Court; (iv) the
    admitted position that the Appellants were bonafide in their payment
    of rent before their alleged purchase of the Suit Property.
16. This Court in Paramjeet Batra v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors.1 has
    expounded on the scope of exercise of power under Section 482
    CrPC whilst dealing with similar matters:
             “7. While exercising its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the
             Code the High Court has to be cautious. This power is to
             be used sparingly and only for the purpose of preventing
             abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure
             ends of justice. Whether a complaint discloses a criminal
             offence or not depends upon the nature of facts alleged
             therein. Whether essential ingredients of criminal offence
             are present or not has to be judged by the High Court.
             A complaint disclosing civil transactions may also have a
             criminal texture. But the High Court must see whether a
             dispute which is essentially of a civil nature is given a cloak
             of criminal offence. In such a situation, if a civil remedy is
             available and is, in fact, adopted as has happened in this
             case, the High Court should not hesitate to quash criminal
             proceedings to prevent abuse of process of court.”
17. Therefore, when the High Court was apprised of such a matter
    wherein the substance of the criminal complaint served only to cast
    doubt on the validity of a commercial transaction (in this case, a sale
    deed for the transfer of property), and the appropriate civil remedy



1   Criminal Appeal No. 2069 of 2012
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       was already being pursued, the High Court ought to have quashed
       the criminal proceedings.
18. For the reasons stated above, the Impugned Order is set aside and
    the entire criminal proceedings arising out of the Subject FIR are
    quashed and set aside. Needless to say, this order shall not have
    any effect on the Civil Suit pending between the parties and the
    same shall be decided in accordance with law.
19. Resultantly, the appeal stands allowed.
20. Pending applications, if any, shall also stand disposed of.


       Headnotes prepared by:                          Result of the case:
       Prastut Mahesh Dalvi, Hony. Associate Editor      Appeal allowed.
       (Verified by: Liz Mathew, Sr. Adv.)