Misuse of criminal law divides society, clogs courts: Supreme Court

THe sublime margaret court has cautioned that abuse of the machinery of felon justness must be “nipped in the bud,” stressing that frivolous prosecutions not only deepen divisions in society but also impose an undue strain on already burdened courts.“In recent years, the machinery of criminal justice has been misused by certain persons for their vested interests and for achieving their oblique motives and agenda. Courts have therefore to be vigilant against such tendencies and ensure that acts of omission and commission having an adverse impact on the fabric of our society must be nipped in the bud,” a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said.It underlined that criminal prosecution cannot be allowed to be used as an instrument of harassment or for seeking private vendetta or with an ulterior motive to pressurise the accused. “Such actions would create significant divisions and distrust among people, while also placing an unnecessary strain on the judicial system, particularly criminal courts,” said the bench.The caution came while the bench quashed criminal proceedings against a man accused of cheating and criminal breach of trust after a property sale agreement went sour.The complainant, Md Mustafa, alleged that Arshad Neyaz Khan had agreed in 2013 to sell certain plots of land in Ranchi for ₹43 lakh, for which he paid an advance of ₹20 lakh. When the property was not transferred, Mustafa lodged a complaint in 2021, eight years later, accusing Khan of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.Rejecting the charges, the court underlined that to prove cheating, the complainant must show fraudulent or dishonest intention at the very inception of the transaction. “Such culpable intention cannot be presumed but has to be made out with cogent facts,” said the bench, finding “a clear absence of dishonest and fraudulent intention on the part of the appellant during the agreement for sale.”It added that mere failure to execute an agreement or refund advance money may give rise to a civil dispute but does not automatically satisfy the test of “dishonest inducement” required for a criminal offence of cheating.The court said that the essential ingredients of criminal breach of trust were absent. “Every act of breach of trust may not result in a penal offence unless there is evidence of fraudulent misappropriation,” it said.The nearly eight-year long delay in lodging the complaint after the agreement weakened the complainant’s case and “raised suspicion about his bona fides,” the judgment said.The bench pointed out that the complainant had an alternative civil remedy to seek damages for breach of contract but instead resorted to criminal proceedings, which could not be sustained. “Criminal law ought not to become a platform for initiation of vindictive proceedings to settle personal scores and vendettas,” it said.Setting aside the Jharkhand high court’s refusal in 2023 to quash the case, the Supreme Court ordered that all proceedings against Khan be quashed.