(1) Criminal Misc. No.M-32078 of 2009 v. Union Territory, Chandigarh & Anr.

Mr. H.S. Bhullar, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Rajiv Sharma, standing counsel for U.T. Administration, Chandigarh. Mr. M.S. Cheema, Advocate for the complainant-respondent No.2. ..... S.S. Saron, J. This order will dispose of Criminal Misc. No.M-32078 of 2009 filed by Baljodh Dhadhli and Criminal Misc. No.M-34066 of 2009 filed by her husband Prabhjeet Singh. Both the petitioners seek pre-arrest bail in a case registered against them on 30.10.2009 for the offences under Sections 406 and 420 IPC at Police Station Sector 34, Chandigarh. Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [2] The FIR in the case has been registered on the complaint of Naveen Kumar (respondent No.2). It is alleged by the complainant that in the month of September 2007 Prabhjeet Singh came in contact with the complainant through a common friend. They had 2-3 meetings and he (Prabhjeet Singh) showed interest to sell his agricultural land measuring 50 Kanals in Village Hedon, Tehsil Samrala, District Ludhiana. Prabhjeet Singh took the complainant to Village Hedon and showed him the land. He offered to sell his land @ `14 Lacs per acre. The complainant finding the deal to be quite lucrative agreed to purchase his land and asked him to bring all the relevant papers of the land i.e. copies of Jamabandis etc. for his satisfaction. During all these conversations, Prabhjeet Singh informed the complainant that the said land was in the name of his mother as well as in his name jointly. He further said that his mother had gone abroad and she is likely to return in the near future. Thereafter, she would sign the documents i.e. sale deed etc. For the present, Prabhjeet Singh alone would sign the agreement. The complainant agreed to this. On 9.10.2007, Prabhjeet Singh came to the office of the complainant in Sector 34, Chandigarh where the complainant is running his business. Prabhjeet Singh showed the complainant the Jamabandi pertaining to the land and also produced an already typed and prepared agreement to sell before him for its execution. After seeing the original copy of the jamabandi pertaining to the land the complainant was satisfied and he agreed to sign the agreement dated

8.10.2007. In terms of the agreement the complainant paid `50 Lacs in cash after withdrawing the amount from his Bank the same very day. Some of the amount he raised from his friends and rest of the amount was already Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [3] lying with him in his business. The amount was paid to Prabhjeet Singh in the presence of Ajaib Singh son of Nachhattar Singh and Mandeep Singh son of Surjit Singh who were present at the time of signing the agreement in the office of the complainant at Chandigarh. Mandeep Singh is the second witness. Even though on the prepared agreement the name of Rajiv Kumar had been typed, however, Rajiv Kumar was not present at the time of signing the agreement and Mandeep Singh signed as second witness. Prabhjeet Singh after receiving the amount of `50 Lacs gave in writing that he would get the documents signed from his mother Smt. Tejinder Kaur and that would be his responsibility. As per the agreement, a time of one year was fixed by both the parties mutually to get the sale deed executed i.e. on or before 8.10.2008. Thereafter, the complainant has been ready to get the sale deed effected by paying rest of the agreed amount of sale consideration but Prabhjeet Singh has been delaying the matter on one pretext or the other. The complainant came to know that Smt. Tejinder Kaur mother of Prabhjeet Singh had come back from USA. Therefore, he visited the residence of Smt. Tejinder Kaur and Prabhjeet Singh at Mohali and requested them to get the sale deed effected but Smt. Tejinder Kaur took a U-turn and told the complainant that her son had agreed to sell the land to him at a throw away price and she rather blamed that it is the complainant who had allured her son to sell the land at a throw away price. She informed the complainant that they were not going to get the sale deed effected in his (complainant's) favour. The complainant has alleged that after receiving an amount of `50 Lacs, Smt. Tejinder Kaur and Prabhjeet Singh had entered into an agreement to sell the land to Rajiv Kumar son of Varinder Kumar of Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [4] Ambala who had been shown as one of the witnesses in the typed prepared agreement brought by Prabhjeet Singh and he was not present when the agreement was to be signed. The complainant also came to know that Prabhjeet Singh and his mother Tejinder Kaur had already executed a sale deed in respect of the same land in favour of Rajiv Kumar without informing the complainant and without settling the matter with him. When the complainant came to know after meeting Smt. Tejinder Kaur and Prabhjeet Singh their intention, he took his common friends along with him and requested both of them to get the sale deed effected or return his money as they had used it for such a long time. Thus, coming under some pressure said Prabhjeet Singh agreed to return the money that was given as an advance to the complainant. He agreed to pay `73 Lacs for which he issued a cheque for an amount of `5,10,000/- in favour of the complainant and another cheque dated 15.7.2009 which was issued by Baljodh Dhadhli (petitioner in Criminal Misc. No.M-32078 of 2009) for an amount of `67,90,000/-. However, their intentions were not clear and the cheques issued were not honoured as payments had been stopped. This, according to to the complainant clearly shows the ill-intentions of Prabhjeet Singh and his mother Smt. Tejinder Kaur, inasmuch as, they neither executed the sale deed in favour of the complainant nor returned the advance amount despite giving cheques for an amount of `73 Lacs. Therefore, it is alleged that Prabhjeet Singh and Smt. Baljodh Dhadhli had committed fraud upon the complainant. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, it is quite apparent that Prabhjeet Singh had entered into an Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [5] agreement to sell his land in favour of the complainant. In terms of the agreement entered into by him he agreed to sell 75 Kanals 8 Marlas of land @ `14 Lacs per acre. The sale deed in respect of the land was to be executed by 8.10.2008. He also assured that the necessary signatures of his mother Smt. Tejinder Kaur would be obtained regarding sale of the land. However, he did not obtain any signature of Smt. Tejinder Kaur and he on his own sold the land to Rajiv Kumar, who incidentally was to be one of the marginal witness of the agreement between the complainant and Prabhjeet Singh as his name had been typed on the typed agreement prepared by Prabhjeet Singh. However, in his place Mandeep Singh became a witness. Thereafter, even without settling the claim and amount of the complainant, Prabhjeet Singh and his mother Smt. Tejinder Kaur sold the land to a third person. Thereafter, he gave two cheques for an amount of `73 Las but the cheques were not honoured. The facts and circumstances, show that he is alleged to have committed offence of misappropriation and cheating and for recovery of the amount and other proceedings, the custody of Prabhjeet Singh would be required. Insofar as Baljodh Dhadhli is concerned, it may be noticed that she is the wife of Prabhjeet Singh. The only allegation against her is that she gave a cheque dated 19.7.2009 drawn on Kotak Mahindra Bank for an amount of `67,90,000/- to the complainant. She was not a party to the agreement to sell between her husband Prabhjeet Singh and the complainant Naveen Kumar. In case the cheque has been dishonoured the remedy of the complainant is to file a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The complainant has already filed a complaint in this regard and she has been summoned therein. Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [6] However, it is not shown that she was, in any manner, a party to any of the transactions between her husband Prabhjeet Singh and the complainant Naveen Kumar. She is not a witness to the agreement and nor has she given any assurance for selling the land which was owned by her husband Prabhjeet Singh and her mother-in-law Smt. Tejinder Kaur. Therefore, prima facie she is not liable for any offence of misappropriation or cheating. As such, she is entitled to the concession of bail. The apprehension of the complainant is that the petitioner Prabhjeet Singh will now take a stand that he is liable to pay only `5,10,000/- for which he had given a cheque, although according to the complainant the amount recoverable is `73 Lacs. It may be noticed that the amount due from the petitioner according to the complainant is `73 Lacs and his wife Baljodh Dhadhli had given a cheque for an amount of `67,90,000/-. In fact, an amount of `73 Lacs, according to the complainant, is due and recoverable. In view of the above, the Criminal Misc. No.M-34066 of 2009 filed by Prabhjeet Singh is dismissed and Criminal Misc. No.M-32078 of 2009 filed by Baljodh Dhadhli wife of Prabhjeet Singh is allowed and the petitioner Baljodh Dhadhli in the event of her arrest shall be admitted to bail on her furnishing personal bond and surety to the satisfaction of Arresting/Investigating Officer. She shall join the investigation as and when called and shall abide by the conditions of Section 438 (2) Cr.P.C. Thereby, the interim order dated 27.11.2009 qua Baljodh Dhadhli is made absolute. Cr. Misc. Nos.M-32078 of 2009 etc. [7] Nothing stated herein shall be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case and the investigating authorities and the learned trial Court as the case may be shall consider the case on the basis of evidence and material as produced before it. September 27, 2010. *hsp* (S.S. Saron) Judge