RUMA SARKAR vs STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ANR

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
CRIMINAL REVISIONAL JURISDICTION
APPELLATE SIDE

PRESENT:
THE HON’BLE JUSTICE UDAY KUMAR

CRR 2047 OF 2023

RUMA SARKAR
-VS-
STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ANR.

For the Petitioner : Mr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Ld. Adv.
Ms. Ghazala Firdaus, Ld. Adv.
Mr. Sk. Saidullah, Ld. Adv.
Mr. Mithun Mondal, Ld. Adv.
Mr. Md. Arsalan, Ld. Adv.
Ms. Zannat Haque, Ld. Adv.

For the State : Mr. Pawan Kr. Gupta, Ld. Adv.
Mr. Sreyash Kr. Singh, Ld. Adv.

Reserved on : 25.08.2026
Pronounced on : 01.09.2026

UDAY KUMAR, J.: –
1. It is a well-entrenched and salutary principle of criminal jurisprudence
that the extraordinary and inherent powers vested in this Court under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, must be exercised
with extreme circumspection, caution, and a deep sense of judicial
restraint. Criminal proceedings ought not to be throttled at their very

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inception, nor is this revisional forum the appropriate platform to
conduct a mini-trial or sift through disputed questions of fact that
essentially form the domain of the trial court. Where the materials
collected during investigation or placed on record, such as signed
agreement papers and negotiable instruments bearing the signatures of
the accused, disclose a prima facie case of involvement, the doors of
justice cannot be bolted against the prosecution by prematurely cutting
short a trial.
2. The present revisional application invites me to examine the delicate
balance between protecting citizens from malicious and vexatious
persecutions on one hand, and ensuring that economic frauds and
criminal conspiracies, supported by tangible documentary material, are
subjected to the rigorous scrutiny of a trial before a court of competent
jurisdiction.
3. To appreciate the true perspective of the controversy at hand, a detailed
narration of the factual matrix leading to the institution of the present
proceeding is imperative. The genesis of the prosecution traces back to
a comprehensive letter of complaint lodged by the opposite party no. 2
(Rajib Dey) before the Officer-in-Charge of the Lake Town Police Station,
thus initiating the connected criminal proceeding being G.R. Case No.
323 of 2023 arising out of Lake Town Police Station Case No. 53 of
2023 under Sections 420/406/467/468/471/120B of the Indian Penal
Code, currently pending before the learned Additional Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Bidhannagar, which the petitioner seeks to quash by way of
the present revisional application.

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4. The complainant, a student belonging to a modest financial
background, was in active search of employment. In August 2018, he
met the petitioner’s husband, Shyamal Sarkar, who represented himself
as an employee of the Government of West Bengal and held out an
assurance that he possessed the administrative clout and capacity to
secure a government job in Group "D" categories.

5. Trusting these assurances, the complainant allegedly visited the
residence shared by the accused persons and, over multiple occasions
and locations, parted with a substantial aggregate sum amounting to
Rs. 16,28,000/-. When the promised appointments failed to materialize
despite persistent follow-ups, the accused persons ultimately handed
over purported appointment letters issued by the Government of West
Bengal, which, upon verification from competent authorities, were
discovered to be thoroughly forged, fabricated, and fake.
6. Confronted with this deception, when the complainant demanded a
refund of his hard-earned money, the petitioner and her co-accused
executed formal agreement papers with the Opposite Party No. 2 and
handed over three specific cheque leaves bearing their signatures
toward the liquidation of the liability. Upon presentation to the bank, all
those cheques were dishonoured due to insufficiency of funds and
closure of accounts. These glaring sequences of events prompted the
lodging of the formal First Information Report, giving rise to Lake Town
Police Station Case No. 53 of 2023 dated April 4, 2023. It is pertinent to
record that an earlier complaint registered by the Opposite Party No. 2
at Shyampukur Police Station (Shyampukur P.S. Case No. 185 of 2019)

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had met its demise following judicial intervention regarding territorial
jurisdiction, wherein an order dated April 8, 2021 passed by a Co-
ordinate Bench of this Court, had quashed the said criminal proceeding
upon a report by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North and North
Suburban Division) establishing that the premises at 2A, Mohanlal
Street fell outside the jurisdiction of the Shyampukur Police Station and
within the jurisdiction of the Ultadanga Police Station. Consequently,
after proper administrative and legal alignment, the instant FIR came to
be legally instituted before the proper and competent police station
namely, Lake Town Police Station, having jurisdiction over the actual
unfolding of the subsequent financial transactions and execution of
documents. Upon completion of the investigation, a charge-sheet having
been filed (Chargesheet No. 324/24 dated September 30, 2024), the
matter progressed before the learned Magistrate, prompting the
petitioner to invoke the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section
482 CrPC for quashment.
7. Mr. Imtiaz Ahmed, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
petitioner, launched a multi-pronged attack against the continuation of
the criminal proceeding, submitting that the entire prosecution is an
abuse of the process of the court. He forcefully argued that the
allegations levelled in the First Information Report are inherently
improbable, absurd, and fail to disclose the essential ingredients of
criminal culpability against the petitioner, who is a middle-class school
teacher. The learned counsel contended that the specific role attributed
to the petitioner is vague, generalized, and lacks the precision required

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to sustain a criminal charge, being merely an attempt to rope her in
solely on the strength of her marital tie to the primary accused,
Shyamal Sarkar.
8. Expanding upon the procedural history, Mr. Ahmed drew the attention
of this Court to pages 28 and 29 of the revisional application, pointing
out that pursuant to an order dated March 25, 2021, passed by the Co-
ordinate Bench in connection with earlier litigations originating from a
complaint by one Shambhu Bairagya, the Deputy Commissioner of
Police, North and North Suburban Division, Kolkata, had explicitly
reported that premises No. 2A, Mohanlal Street fell within the territorial
limits of Ultadanga Police Station and not Shyampukur Police Station.
He submitted that the earlier proceeding initiated by the Opposite Party
No. 2, registered as Shyampukur P.S. Case No. 185 of 2019 dated
September 21, 2019, under Sections 420/406 /409/465/467/468/471
/474 /120B IPC was subsequently quashed by a competent judicial
order dated April 8, 2021. Building upon this foundation, the petitioner
contended that the present proceedings at Lake Town (Case No. 53 of
2023 dated April 4, 2023) are infected by the same jurisdictional
malady, tainted by a perfunctory and mechanical charge-sheet, and
represent a recycled persecution built upon a foundation that has
already judicially crumbled.
9. Furthermore, Mr. Ahmed submitted that the simultaneous invocation of
Section 406 (Criminal Breach of Trust) and Section 420 (Cheating) of
the Indian Penal Code is a fatal legal paradox, as both sections require
mutually exclusive and contradictory mental elements; trust and

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entrustment on one hand, and dishonest inducement from the very
inception on the other. He further submitted that the continuation of
the proceeding exposes the petitioner to unwarranted harassment,
mental agony, and social stigma, and therefore, the inherent powers of
this Court must be invoked to quash the proceeding in limine to secure
the ends of justice.

10. Per contra, Mr. Pawan Kumar Gupta, learned counsel appearing for the
State and the private opposite party, stoutly defended the validity and
continuation of the criminal proceeding, meeting each limb of the
petitioner's challenge with robust documentation. He submitted that
while an earlier iteration of litigation involving different complainants at
Shyampukur met a technical end due to a wrong police station address,
the present prosecution at Lake Town Police Station is founded on a
distinct and independent substratum of facts, fresh statements, and
concrete documentary evidence. Crucially, the learned counsel directed
my attention to the Case Diary, specifically to pages 16, 18 and 26,
which contain sterling, unimpeachable documentary evidence of a
prima facie nature, including formal agreement papers and three
specific signed cheques executed by the petitioner, Ruma Sarkar, which
subsequently bounced upon presentation due to insufficiency of funds
and account closure. He emphasized that these incriminating
signatures provide direct, tangible prima facie proof of her active
complicity, direct participation, and connivance in the fraudulent
design, effectively shattering the defence that she is an unconcerned
bystander or a victim of circumstance.

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11. To fortify the sequence of complicity, Mr. Gupta highlighted the
statement of one Md. Hamim Rahman recorded under Section 161 of
the CrPC, available at page 53 of the Case Diary, which corroborates
the active role played by the accused persons. Furthermore, it is
brought to the notice of this Court that the conduct of the petitioner,
marked by a frequent and deliberate changing of residential addresses
and telephone numbers, is an implied indicator of a guilty mind and a
dishonest intention present from the very inception, squarely fulfilling
the parameters of fraudulent cheating.
12. With respect to the technical objection regarding Sections 406 and 420
IPC raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Gupta
submitted that such overlapping penal provisions in an initial police
report represent mere allegations and drafting styles, which do not
vitiate the proceeding at the threshold and are matters exclusively
within the domain of the trial court to sift through at the time of
framing charges. He contended that the factual matrix establishes a
solid prima facie case which, if tested on the touchstone of the
landmark principles laid down in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992
Supp (1) SCC 335), completely bars the exercise of quashing power at
the threshold.
13. Upon a comprehensive evaluation of the pleadings, the statutory
framework, the judicial precedents cited, and the rival submissions
advanced at the bar, the following core questions emerge for
determination in the present revisional application:

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CRR 2047 OF 2023

i. Whether the presence of prima facie documentary evidence,
specifically the signatures of the petitioner on the agreement
paper and the cheque leaves, alongside allegations of financial
fraud, forgery, and shifting addresses, constitutes sufficient
material to warrant a full-fledged trial, precluding the exercise of
inherent powers to quash the proceeding under Section 482
CrPC; and

ii. Whether technical contentions concerning territorial
background or the simultaneous applicability of Section 406
and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code can vitiate the
proceedings at the threshold stage of quashing.
14. Taking up the first question for determination regarding the sufficiency
of material and the propriety of quashing, we must examine the precise
parameters governing the exercise of inherent jurisdiction under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure when confronted with
petitions seeking the quashment of criminal proceedings involving
economic offenses and documentary evidence. It is a well-established
proposition of criminal jurisprudence that the High Court, while
exercising its quashing jurisdiction, does not function as a trial court or
an appellate forum to weigh the probative value of evidence or test the
veracity of signatures through a summary procedure akin to a mini-
trial. While the petitioner has laid considerable emphasis on the
historical context of the Shyampukur P.S. proceedings (Case No. 185 of
2019) being quashed on April 8, 2021, pursuant to the report of the
Deputy Commissioner of Police regarding jurisdiction over 2A, Mohanlal

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Street, we find that the said technical dismissal did not exonerate the
petitioner on merits, nor does it erect a legal bar against a fresh, legally
competent investigation instituted at the proper forum, namely, Lake
Town Police Station, where subsequent transactions, agreements, and
dishonoured instruments unfolded.
15. The record before us is replete with incriminating materials of a sterling
quality at this preliminary stage. Specifically, the signature of the
petitioner appearing on the agreement paper and her signatures on the
cheque leaves handed over toward discharge of the fraudulent liability,
coupled with the 161 CrPC statement of Md. Hamim Rahman at page
53 of the Case Diary and the conspicuous pattern of shifting addresses
and phone numbers, provide a robust prima facie foundation
establishing her active participation and complicity in the entire
transaction.
16. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in a long and consistent line of
landmark authorities, has repeatedly cautioned that where a complaint
discloses cognizable offenses and is supported by prima facie
documentary material, the criminal proceeding must not be intercepted.
In the celebrated judgment of State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal ( supra ),
the Apex Court delineated the parameters for the exercise of powers
under Section 482, specifically holding in paragraph 102 as follows:
"We also give a note of caution to the effect that the power of
quashing a criminal proceeding should be exercised very
sparingly and with circumspection and that too in the rarest of
rare cases; that the court will not be justified in embarking upon
an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or otherwise of the

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allegations made in the F.I.R. or the complaint and that the
extraordinary or inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary
jurisdiction on the court to act according to its whim or caprice."

17. Further reinforcing this principle in the context of economic offenses
carrying criminal hues, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Sujit Biswas v.
State of Assam [(2013) 12 SCC 406)] and more recently in Neeharika
Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra and Others [(2020) 10
SCC 118) has underscored that a criminal prosecution cannot be
throttled at the threshold when the allegations, coupled with
documentary links, make out a triable case. The presence of the
petitioner's signatures on the financial instruments and agreements
creates a strong presumption of active involvement that requires a
thorough evidentiary probe during trial. To cut short the prosecution at
this stage by ignoring such tangible materials would result in a travesty
of justice.
18. Addressing the second question for determination concerning the
simultaneous invocation of Section 406 and Section 420 of the Indian
Penal Code and the technical objections raised by the defence, I find
substantial merit in the submissions advanced by the opposite parties.
It is true that criminal breach of trust under Section 406 requires an
initial lawful entrustment of property, whereas cheating under Section
420 requires a dishonest inducement right from the very inception,
making the two mental elements distinct. However, it is equally well-
settled that at the stage of an FIR or a police report, the inclusion of

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multiple penal sections reflects the allegations levelled by the victim as
per the preliminary understanding of the investigating agency.
19. Such drafting, if overlaps with the technical incongruities between
penal provisions, do not strike at the root of the prosecution so as to
render it void ab initio. As repeatedly affirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme
Court in cases such as Sanjay Kumar Rai v. State of Uttar Pradesh and
Another [(2022) 15 SCC 720)] and Central Bureau of Investigation v.
Aryan Singh and Others [(2023) 18 SCC 399)], the stage for examining
whether the ingredients of specific offenses like Section 406 or Section
420 IPC are fully satisfied or whether they are mutually exclusive on
proven facts, is exclusively reserved for the trial court at the time of
framing charges or during the evaluation of evidence. A meticulous
dissection of penal sections during a mini-trial to test whether an
accused can be tried under both provisions simultaneously is
impermissible under Section 482 CrPC. The trial court is fully
empowered and legally equipped to apply its judicial mind to the
charge-sheet and the annexed documents at the appropriate procedural
stage to determine the exact framing of charges.

20. Accordingly, both questions for determination are answered against the
petitioner: the existence of prima facie documentary evidence
necessitates a regular trial, and technical challenges concerning
territorial jurisdiction as well as overlapping penal sections do not ipso
facto vitiate the proceeding and such matters fall squarely within the
domain of the trial court at the time of framing charges. Weighing the
entire conspectus of facts, the applicable statutory provisions, and the

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binding precedents of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, I am of the firm and
considered opinion that this is not a case where the inherent powers of
this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. ought to be invoked to quash the
proceedings. Whether the Lake Town Police Station is the proper and
competent forum, the dismissal of the earlier criminal proceeding
having gotten purely on a technicality of territorial jurisdiction rather
than merits; the investigation having revealed concrete prima facie
documentary links through signatures on agreements and cheques,
supported by witness statements and the conduct of the petitioner; and
the technical nuances regarding overlapping penal sections are matters
to be addressed by the trial court at the appropriate stage. The present
revisional application, therefore, lacks merit and must fail.
21. This Court holds that the criminal proceeding being G.R. Case No. 323
of 2023 arising out of Lake Town Police Station Case No. 53 of 2023
dated April 4, 2023, under Sections 420/406/467/468/471/120B of
the Indian Penal Code, 1860, pending before the learned Additional
Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bidhannagar, discloses prima facie triable
issues and is supported by substantive documentary materials,
including signatures on agreement papers and negotiable instruments,
which necessitate a full-fledged trial rather than interference under the
inherent jurisdiction of this Court.
22. Consequently, the revisional application, being C.R.R. No. 2047 of
2023, stands dismissed.
23. Any interim order passed earlier in this proceeding stands vacated
forthwith.

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24. There shall be no order as to costs.
25. Let a certified copy of this judgment, be transmitted immediately to the
learned Trial court for necessary compliance, and the trial court is
directed to expedite the proceeding in accordance with law without
granting unnecessary adjournments to either party.
26. Case diary, be returned to the Learned Counsel for the State.

27. Urgent photostat certified copy of this judgment, if applied for, be
supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Uday Kumar, J.)