STATE OF U.P. THROUGH C.B.I. S.P.E. LUCKNOWversusR.K. SRIVASTAVA AND ANOTHER.

             STATE OF U.P. THROUGH C.B.I. S.P.E. LUCKNOW
    A                            v.
                   R.K. SRIVASTAVA AND ANOTHER.

                                  AUGUST 11, 1989

    B     [MURARI MOHON DUTT, S. RATNAVEL PANDIAN AND                            ~
                       T.K. THOMMEN, JJ.]

               Criminal Procedure Code, 1973: Section 154-F.I.R.-Al/ega-
         tions contained in FIR taken on face value and accepted in entirety do .,_,
         not constitute offence-Whether criminal proceedings could be ; ,
         quashed.
    c                                                                       ~
                                                                                   I




'           The respondents, two employees of a nationalised Bank and two \
      account-holders, were charged with offences punishable under Sections
      120B, 420, 468, 471 I.P.C. and 5(2) read with Section 5(l)(d) of the
      Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. The F .I.R. alleged that the two
    D Bank employees entered into a criminal conspiracy with the two
      account-holders to cheat the Bank and, in pursuance thereof an amount
      of Rs.54,600 was allowed to be withdrawn by the account-holders,
      who had tendered three cheques aggregating to Rs.54,600, on the basis
      of the false credit entries in the books of accounts of the Bank, and ~
      connected credit and debit-vouchers were also prepared. The case
    E against one of the account-holders was tater dropped.

               The High Court quashed the proceedings only against Respondent
         No. l on the ground that the allegations made in the F .I.R. did not
         constitute any offence of cheating or forgery. Against this decision, the
         State as well as the Bank filed appeals in this Court.                    ·~
    i;
              Quashing the proceedings against all the respondents,

           HELD: l. If the allegations made in the FIR taken at their face
      value and accepted in their entirety do nut constitute an offence, the
      criminal proceedings instituted on the basis of such FIR should be
    G quashed. [837C]

            In the instant case, the Respondent No. l and the other accused ""·
      had accepted the three cheques in question and sent the same for clea-
      rance after debiting the LOC account. The cheques were encashed and
      the money was received by the Bank. It may be that there was some
    H delay in crediting the LOC account or that the money against the three
                                          834
                STAIB OF U.P. v. R.K. SRIVASTAVA [DUTT, J.)            835

    cheques were credited in the accounts of the account-holders, but the     A
    allegations made either in the FIR or in the charge-sheet do not show
    that they had acted dishonestly, or with deliberate intention to cause
    wrongful gain or wrongful loss to the Bank. When the amount was
    allowed to be withdrawn by the account-holders, necessary entries had
    to be made in the accounts of the Bank and these entries cannot be
    characterised as false. No document has been referred to in the FIR as    B
    the outcome of forgery. [837E-F, 838A]

          The High Court was, therefore, right in holding that the allega-
    tions made in the FIR did not constitute any offence of cheating or
    forgery and that as the criminal proceedings had been started on the
    basis of a FIR which did not contain any definite accusation and it       C
    amounted to an abuse of process of the Court, they were liable to be
    quashed. [837G, 838B]

          Since the allegations in the FIR are the same against all the
    accused persons, the entire proceedings as against all the accused
    persons should be quashed. Accordingly, the entire criminal proceed-      D
    ings are quashed. [838C]

         CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
    Nos. 380 of 1989 anJ 323 of 1988.

         From the Judgment and Order dated 28.1.1988 of the Allahabad         E
    High Court in Cr!. Misc. Appln. No. 995 of 1987.

         G. Ramaswamy, Additional Solicitor General, Anil Dev Singh,
    Miss A. Subhashini and R.P. Kapur for the Appellants.



,        R.L. Kohli, Manoj Saxena and R.D. Upadhyay for the Res-
    pondents ..

         The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          DUTT, J. These two appeals by special leave, one preferred by
                                                                              F




    the State of U.P. and the other by the State Bank oflndia, are directed   G
    against the judgment of the Allahabad High Court whereby the High
    Court has quashed the criminal proceedings being Crime Case No. 40
    of 1983 in the Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, only as against
    the respondent R.K. Srivastava. In quashing the proceedings in the
    exercise of its jurisdiction under section 482 Cr. P.C., the High Court
    took the view that allegations made in the first Information Report       H
    836                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS             [1989] 3 S.C.R.

A   (FIR) did not constitute any offence. In order to appreciate the view of   ~.
    the High Court, it is necessary to refer to the FIR which reads as
    follows:

               "An information has been received that Shri P.C. Saxena
               and Shri Ram Kumar Srivastava while posted and function-
B
               ing as Accountant and Clerk-cum-Godown Keeper in the            )-
               State Bank of India, Agriculture Development Branch,
               Budaun, respectively entered into a criminal conspiracy
               with Shri Sarwant Singh and his wife Smt. Rajwant Kaur,
               Props. of M/s. National Mill Store, Budaun, during the
               month of June, 1982 to cheat the State Bank of India,           ~
c              B udaun, and in pursuance of the said criminal conspiracy
               an.amount of Rs.54,600 was withdrawn on the basis of false      _.j
               credit entry made in the books of accounts of the Bank and
               connected credit and debit vouchers were also prepared
               and passed by the accused employees of the Bank and pay-
               ment were made to the accused persons, namely, Shri
D              Sarwant Singh and Smt. Rajwant Kaur who tendered
               cheque No. 348459 dated 2.5.1982 for Rs.18,600 cheque
               No. 348482 for Rs.19,200, date 2.6.1982 and cheque No.
               502206 dated 2.6.82 for Rs.16,800 = 54, 600.

                      The above facts constitute offence punishable u/s
E               120-B, 420, 468, 471 I.P.C. and 5(2) r/w 5(1)(d) of PC Act,
                1947.

                     A regular case is therefore registered and its investi-
               gation is entrusted to Shri V .P. Arya, Inspector of this
               establishment."
F
  According to the FIR, as against three cheques of the aggregate
  amount of Rs.54,600, presumably of three different Banks, a credit
  entry was made in the accounts of M/s. National Mill Stores Co.,
  Budaun, and M/s. New Manufacturing Co., Budaun, and their
  partners, Sardar Sarwant Singh and his wife Smt. Rajwant Kaur, in the
G State Bank of India and the said sum of Rs.54,600 was allowed to be
  withdrawn by them by the respondent and the accused P .C. Saxena.

          The allegations in the FIR appear to be vague and although it is
    alleged that the respondent and the accused P.C. Saxena made false
    credit entries in the books of accounts of the Bank and connected
H   credit and debit vouchers were also prepared and passed by them, no
                     STATE OF U.P. v. R.K. SRIVASTAVA [DUTT, J.]          837
;        particulars of the same have been given. It appears from the charge-
                                                                                 A
         sheet that the said Shri Sarwant Singh and his wife Smt. Rajwani Kaur
         and their firms, namely, M/s. National Mill Stores Co., Budaun, and
         M/s. New Manufacturing Co., Budaun, have current accounts in the
         State Bank of India, Budaun. After the said three cheques amounting
         to Rs.54,600 were tendered, the respondent and the accused P.C.
'"<      Saxena sent the said cheques for clearance and allowed the said Shri
         Sarwant Singh and his wife Smt. Rajwant Kaur to withdraw the sum of
                                                                                 B

         Rs.54,600 from their current account.

,...,.         It is now a well settled principle of law that if the allegations
         made in the FIR are taken at their face value and accepted in their
         entirety do not constitute an offence, the criminal proceedings
f        instituted on the basis of such FIR should be quashed. In the instant c
         case, on the basis of the said FIR the respondent and the said P.C.
         Saxena and Shri Sarwant Singh were charged under sections 120-B,
         420, 468 and 4711.P.C. and section 5(2) read with section 5(1)(d) of
         the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. According to the appellant,
         as no prima facie case was made out against Smt. Rajwant Kaur, wife D
         of Shri Sarwant Singh, she has been dropped from the array of the
         accused persons.

 ~ the offences
         The question is whether the facts disclosed in the FIR constitute
                with which the accused have been charged. It is manifestly
        clear from the allegations in the FIR that the respondent or the other E
        accused had no intention whatsoever to make any wrongful gain or to
        make any wrongful loss to the Bank. They had accepted the said three
        cheques amounting to Rs.54,600 and sent the same for clearance after



,       debiting the LOC account. The said cheques have been encashed and
        the money was received by the State Bank of India. It may be that
        there was some delay in crediting the LOC account or that the money F
        against the three cheques were credited in the accounts of the said Shri
        Sarwant Singh and his wife, but the allegations made either in the FIR
        or in the charge-sheet do not show that the respondent and the said
        P. C. Saxena had acted dishonestly, that is to say, acted with a deli-
        berate intention to cause wrongful gain or wrongful loss. In our
        opinion, the High Court has rightly held that the allegations made in G
    )"' tute any offence of forgery. It is true that it has been alleged that the
        the FIR do not constitute any offence of cheating, nor do they consti-

        said sum of Rs.54,600 was withdrawn on the basis of false credit
        entries made in the books of accounts of the Bank and connected
        credit and debit vouchers were also prepared and passed by the
        respondent and the other accused. When the said sum of Rs.54,600 H
    838                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS              (1989] 3 S.C.R.

A   had been allowed to be withdrawn by the said Shri Sarwant Singh and
    his wife, necessary entries had to be made in the books of accounts,
    but it is not understandable how these entries can be characterised as
    false entries. No document has been referred to in the FIR as the
    outcome of forgery.
B         The High Court has rightly held that as the criminal proceedings
    have been started against the respondent on the basis of a FIR which
    does not contain any definite accusation, it amounts to an abuse of
    process of the court and, as such, is liable to be quashed. We entirely
    agree with the view expressed by the High Court.                            v,
c         The High Court has quashed the proceedings only as against the
    respondent No. 1, R.K. Srivastava. In our opinion, when the allega-
    tions in the FIR are the same against all the accused persons, the entire
    proceedings as against all the accused persons including the said P.C.
    Saxena and the said Shri Sarwant Singh should be quashed.

D        Accordingly, while we uphold the judgment of the High Court,
    we quash'the entire criminal proceedings being Crime Case No. 40 of
    1983 also as against the accused P.C. Saxena and Shri Sarwant Singh.
    The appeals are disposed of as above.

    N.P.V.                                             Appeals disposed of.
E




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