Pending civil case won’t affect criminal proceedings, says HC

Kolkata: While observing that if a criminality is made out, mere pendency of a civil proceeding wouldn’t come in the way of sustaining such a criminal proceeding, Calcutta High Court quashed criminal cases against two petitioners, arising out of a civil dispute, due to lack of prima facie evidence.

The bench of Justice Jay Sengupta was moved by the two petitioners praying for quashing criminal cases against them for alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation and insult.

The case was filed by a company alleging that in 2011 the petitioners induced the complainant to pay an advance of Rs 13,97,569 for supply of 80MT of yellow peas, as per delivery orders dated January 10 and 25, 2011. The petitioners allegedly supplied only 580 bags in March 2014, refusing to deliver the remaining goods. The complainant issued a demand notice on March 10, 2014 to which petitioners responded, followed by further correspondence.

The petitioners argued that the case was a counterblast to a money suit they had filed against the complainant for recovery of Rs 6,91,844 towards storage and fumigation charges, due to the complainant’s failure to lift the agreed quantity of the goods. The complainant allegedly defaulted due to a market price drop, leading to civil dispute. They also submitted that they resided outside the jurisdiction of the trial court and the magistrate failed to conduct a mandatory inquiry under Section 202 CrPC. The court observed a clear violation by the trial court in not conducting an enquiry since the petitioners lived outside the court’s jurisdiction.

The allegations rose from a commercial transaction with a “predominantly civil flavour”. Partial delivery and part payment suggested a contractual breach rather than criminal intent. The court found no prima facie evidence for the criminal charges.

The court also noted the unexplained delay (three years) in filing the complaint.