In Brief
The appellants were accused of criminal breach of trust for retaining Rs. One crore received under a 1993 development agreement for a Delhi property. The FIR was filed 21 years later. The Supreme Court held that retaining the amount did not constitute criminal breach of trust, as it was a deposit returnable only upon completion of construction—which never occurred due to regulatory restrictions. The Court found the prosecution mala fide, designed to coerce settlement of a civil contractual dispute. Quashing both the FIR and charge sheet, the Court reaffirmed that Section 482 powers to quash extend even after charge sheet is filed, and that converting civil disputes into criminal cases through harassing prosecutions must be discouraged.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.