'Possibility That More Victims Fallen Prey': P&H HC Declines To Quash FIR Against Man Accused Of Duping ₹6 Lakhs On Pretext Of Providing Job

Observing that, "there is a possibility that more victims have fallen prey", the Punjab & Haryana High Court has refused to quash an FIR lodged for allegedly defrauding a man by taking Rs. 6.45 lakhs on the pretext of proving employment in a company.

Justice N.S. Shekhawat said, "Even, no doubt the parties have entered into a compromise in the present case, however, from the careful examination of the material placed on record by the State, it becomes very clear that the case extends beyond the realm of mere private dispute between certain individuals"

"Rather, it is apparent from the allegations that the modus operandi adopted by the petitioners as is discernible from the contents of the FIR, indicates towards the commission of cyber fraud and there is a possibility that more and more victims had fallen prey to such cyber frauds and the investigation is being conducted by the police further in this regard," the judge added.

The Court was hearing a plea by the accused persons to quash the FIR lodged in 2023 under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of IPC on the basis of a compromise entered between the parties.

According to the FIR, some unknown persons had cheated the complainant to the tune of Rs. 6.45 lacs on the pretext of providing him employment in some company. It was alleged that the complainant received various calls and emails offering to schedule an interview for a job and took money for registration, training, attending a compulsory course and other occasions.

Counsel for the petitioners contended that in the present case, the FIR was registered against unknown persons and during the course of the investigation, the petitioners belonging to Madhya Pradesh were wrongly involved by the Chandigarh police.

State counsel vehemently opposed the submissions made by the petitioners on the ground that it was a case of fraud by petitioners not only with the complainant, but several other persons also might have fallen prey to the petitioners. 

After hearing the submissions, the judge noted that the complainant had received several calls as well as e-mails from different persons and a false promise was made to him to provide him employment in some company.

"Even, the complainant had paid a total amount of Rs. 6,45,224/- to the fraudsters/petitioners in different accounts, but no job was provided to the respondent No. 2/complainant," it noted further.

Justice Shekhawat highlighted that "...the matter was investigated by the police and sufficient documentary evidence was collected by the police, to show the complicity of the petitioners  (accused) in the crime."

The Court added that perusing the FIR it is clear that, "the commission of cyber fraud and there is a possibility that more and more victims had fallen prey to such cyber frauds and the investigation is being conducted by the police further in this regard."

Consequently, it opined that, at this stage, it would not be appropriate to quash the FIR even on the basis of compromise.

In the light of the above, the plea was dismissed.

 Title: Abhishek Tiwari and others v. State of U.T. Chandigarh and another

Mr. Deepak Gupta, Advocate, for the petitioners.

Mr. Manish Bansal, Public Prosecutor for U.T., Chandigarh.

Mr. Nishant Sidhu, Advocate for the complainant.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 229

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