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Supreme Court Shields Daughters-in-Law from Criminal Case Over Property Will

28Aug

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Supreme Court

Supreme Court Shields Daughters-in-Law from Criminal Case Over Property Will

The Supreme Court quashed criminal proceedings under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, and 471 IPC, ruling the allegations did not prima facie constitute the alleged offences. Relying on Bhajan Lal, it held that criminal process cannot be used to settle civil disputes, as it amounts to an abuse of the court's process. Facts Of The Case: A testator, Shri Ram Baksh Dubey, executed an unregistered will in 1993 bequeathing his property to his four daughters-in-law, apprehensive that his third son, Ashish Kumar, would squander the estate. After the testator’s death in 1994, Ashish Kumar sold his purported share to the complainant, Balram, via a registered sale deed. The daughters-in-law, unaware of this sale, successfully obtained a mutation order in their favor based on the will. When Balram inte...

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The Supreme Court quashed the FIR, ruling the allegations of forgery and cheating did not disclose the essential ingredients of Sections 420, 468, or 471 IPC. It held that continuing the prosecution, after prior exoneration by competent authorities without new evidence, constituted a clear abuse of the legal process. Facts Of The Case: In 2022, a private complaint was filed by Nagaraja M.G. alleging that badminton players Chirag Sen and Lakshya Sen, their parents, and their coach, Vimal Kumar, had conspired to falsify the players’ dates of birth to gain illegal entry into age-restricted tournaments. The complaint was based primarily on an alleged 1996 GPF nomination form. Following a magistrate's order under Section 156(3) of the CrPC, the Bengaluru Police registered an FIR for offences ...

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The Supreme Court upheld that a Magistrate's order under Section 156(3) CrPC directing FIR registration, even if passed without the informant first approaching the Superintendent of Police, is a mere procedural irregularity and not illegal. The Court affirmed that such an order must be a reasoned one reflecting application of mind, and refused to quash the FIR at the chargesheet stage, leaving the matter for trial. Facts Of The Case: Based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from 1995, a financial dispute arose between M/s Sunair Hotels Ltd. (SHL) and VLS Finance Ltd. (VLS). SHL alleged that VLS officials had fraudulently induced them into the agreement by promising a public issue that was impossible under SEBI guidelines. After VLS filed several criminal complaints against SHL for fi...