Case: International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials and Ors Vs. Nimra Cerglass Technics Ltd. and Ors

a civil nature, has been given a cloak of criminal offence. Criminal proceedings are not a short cut of other remedies available in law. Before issuing process a criminal court has to exercise a great deal of caution. For the accused it is a serious matter. This Court has laid certain principles on the basis of which the High Court is to exercise its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code. Jurisdiction under this section has to be exercised to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.”14. While no one with a legitimate cause or grievance should be prevented from seeking remedies available in criminal law, a complainant who initiates or persists with a prosecution, being fully aware that the criminal proceedings are unwarranted and his remedy lies only in civil law, should himself be made accountable, at the end of such misconceived criminal proceedings, in accordance with law. One positive step that can be taken by the courts, to curb unnecessary prosecutions and harassment of innocent parties, is to exercise their power under Section 250 CrPC more frequently, where they discern malice or frivolousness or ulterior motives on the part of the complainant. Be that as it may.” 22. Learned counsel for the respondent submitted that any defence to be taken by the appellants is to be raised only during the course of trial and is not to be raised in the initial stage of the prosecution. In support of his contention, the learned counsel placed reliance upon Trisuns Chemical Industry vs. Rajesh Agarwal & Ors. (1999) 8 SCC 686 ; Rajesh Bajaj vs. State NCT of Delhi and Ors. (1999) 3 SCC 259 ; P. Swaroopa Rani vs. M.Hari Narayana Alias Hari Babu (2008) 5 SCC 765 and Iridium India Telecom Ltd. vs. Motorola Incorporated & Ors. (2011) 1 SCC 74. Learned counsel for the respondent further submitted that when the Magistrate has taken cognizance of an offence and the power of the High Court to interfere is only to a limited extent, the High Court cannot substitute its view for the summoning order passed by the Magistrate. In support of this contention, learned counsel placed reliance upon the decisions of this Court in Fiona Shrikhande vs. State of Maharashtra & Anr. (2013) 14 SCC 44 ; Bhushan Kumar & Anr. vs. State (NCT) of Delhi & Anr. (2012) 5 SCC 424 and Smt. Nagawwa vs. Veeranna Shivalingappa Konjalgi & Ors. (1976) 3 SCC 736. 23. The above decisions reiterate the well-settled principles that while exercising inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C., it is not for the High Court to appreciate the evidence and its truthfulness or sufficiency inasmuch as it is the function of the trial court. High Court’s inherent powers, be it, civil or criminal matters, is designed to achieve a salutary public purpose and that a court proceeding ought not to be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of harassment or persecution. If the averments in the complaint do not constitute an offence, the court would be justified in quashing the proceedings in the interest of justice. 24. Second appellant-Dr. S.V. Joshi was the Associate Director. Third appellant Dr. G. Sunderarajan was the Director of ARCI and both of them were acting in their official capacity. Appellants No. 2 and 3 neither acted in their personal capacity nor stood to receive any personal monetary benefits from the transfer of said technology. Appellants No.2 and 3 were representatives of ARCI which is a grant-in-aid research and development institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and hence previous sanction as mandated under Section 197 Cr.P.C. must have been obtained before proceeding against them as their act was only in discharge of their official duties. In this regard, our attention was drawn to a communication from Ministry of Science and Technology indicating that for initiating criminal proceeding against appellants No. 2 and 3, permission is required and the said communication reads as under: “ ….. They have both been appointed by the Government of India and are governed by all rules and regulations of the Government of India….It is further stated that we have examined all the actions taken by Dr. G. Sundararajan and S.V. Joshi in relation to the activities pertaining to the Technology Transfer Agreement dated 18/06/1999 between ARCI and M/s Nimra Cerglass, Hyderabad and are of firm view that these actions were taken by the above officers while discharging their official duty in good faith and in the best interest of ARCI.Therefore, for initiating criminal proceeding against Dr. G. Sundararajan and Dr. S.V.Joshi, Government of India permission is required.” The alleged acts of the appellants No. 2 and 3 were committed while acting in discharge of their official duties, sanction from the competent authority was necessary before initiating the criminal prosecution against them. Since we have held that from the averments in the complaint, the essential ingredients of dishonest intention is not made out, we are not inclined to further elaborate upon this point. 25. As per the terms of the technology transfer agreement, ARCI has to conduct performance guarantee tests and in those tests when ARCI was unsuccessful in achieving the targeted specifications, ARCI cannot be said to have acted with dishonest intention to cheat the respondent. Appellants-ARCI is a structure of Scientists, Team Leader and Associate Director and it is the team leader who actually executes the project, the job of Associate Director and Director is to monitor/review progress of the project. Appellants No.2 and 3 who were the Associate Director and Director of ARCI respectively were only monitoring the progress of the project cannot be said to have committed the offence of cheating. In the facts of the present case, in our view, the allegations in the complaint do not constitute the offence alleged and continuation of the criminal proceeding is not just and proper and in the interest of the justice, the same is liable to be quashed.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 1

Reasoning from the judgment:
1[ds]25. As per the terms of the technology transfer agreement, ARCI has to conduct performance guarantee tests and in those tests when ARCI was unsuccessful in achieving the targeted specifications, ARCI cannot be said to have acted with dishonest intention to cheat the respondent. Appellants-ARCI is a structure of Scientists, Team Leader and Associate Director and it is the team leader who actually executes the project, the job of Associate Director and Director is to monitor/review progress of the project. Appellants No.2 and 3 who were the Associate Director and Director of ARCI respectively were only monitoring the progress of the project cannot be said to have committed the offence of cheating. In the facts of the present case, in our view, the allegations in the complaint do not constitute the offence alleged and continuation of the criminal proceeding is not just and proper and in the interest of the justice, the same is liable to be quashed.