Court Throws Out Charges Against Director in Land Deal Dispute.
10 June 2024
Property/Real Estate Law >> Property & Real Estate
Bombay High Court has ruled in favor of a company director who was accused of cheating a businessman in a land deal. The director was not part of the original case but was brought in later under a special provision of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The case involved a property dispute. The businessman (referred to as the informant) claimed he had entered into agreements in 2001 to sell two flats to another party. He received an initial payment but the sale was never completed.
Years later, the informant entered into a separate agreement with the director's company to sell the same flats. However, this deal also fell through, and the informant accused the director of being part of a larger scheme to cheat him.
A lower court judge ruled that the director should be charged with cheating based on the informant's claims. However, the higher court disagreed.
The higher court found that the informant had already cancelled the second agreement and kept a portion of the initial payment. This meant there was no longer a valid contract and the element of deception was absent.
The court also noted that there was no evidence to suggest the director conspired with the original parties to cheat the informant. Simply because the director's company was involved in a separate transaction with the same property did not mean he was guilty of a crime.
The court concluded that the lower court judge had misused a special provision meant to bring actual culprits to justice. This provision allows a court to add someone to a case if evidence suggests they were involved in the crime. However, the standard for using this provision is high, and the court said the lower court judge did not meet this standard.