Criminal proceedings arising from a property dispute quashed as giving the civil dispute a criminal colour.

The petitions challenged criminal proceedings arising from complaints concerning an alleged incident on 19 May 2020.

In one matter, the complainant alleged offences under Sections 323, 324, 114, 447, 354, 504 and 506 read with Section 34 IPC; in the other, the complaint alleged assault and abuse, leading to a charge sheet for offences under Sections 323, 504 and 506 read with Section 34 IPC

The parties’ dispute concerned land bearing Sy. No. 99/3, measuring 3 acres and 21 guntas.

A civil suit seeking a permanent injunction had been filed in 2019, and a decree was passed on 8 August 2023.

The parties submitted that the complaints were false and connected to their property dispute

1. Whether the criminal proceedings arising from the parties’ competing complaints should be quashed where they were lodged in the context of an ongoing property dispute

2. Whether the allegations and material on record justified continuation of the proceedings, having regard to the absence of wound certificates indicating grievous injuries

The petitions invoked the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to seek quashing of criminal proceedings; the judgment’s heading also refers to Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita

The alleged offences were under Sections 323, 324, 114, 447, 354, 504, 506 and 34 IPC in one case, and Sections 323, 504, 506 and 34 IPC in the other

The Court applied the principle that criminal proceedings may be quashed where, in the circumstances and on the material before it, they appear to give a criminal colour to an underlying civil dispute.

The Court noted that the civil suit and decree, and the parties’ dispute over the identified land, were not in dispute.

It considered the circumstances in which the competing complaints had been lodged and observed that the assault allegations were not supported by wound certificates indicating grievous injuries.

In that context, the Court considered the proceedings to have been initiated in the course of the underlying civil dispute, giving it a criminal colour, and concluded that they should not continue.

It quashed the proceedings in C.C. No. 2329/2021, arising from Crime No. 0174/2020, for the offences specified in the order, and quashed the charge sheet in C.C. No. 2287/2021.