In Brief
Two directors of a construction company challenged criminal proceedings alleging cheating and forgery. The complainant claimed he had loaned substantial sums that were wrongly converted to equity shares at inflated prices. The Supreme Court found the complaint was filed with deliberate concealment of facts—the complainant had previously lost a civil appeal seeking to recall a High Court-approved merger. The Court also found forum shopping (false addresses to create jurisdiction), unconscionable 8+ year delay, and evidence that the complainant's own board resolutions showed intentional investment, not forced loans. As the dispute was fundamentally commercial, not criminal, the Court quashed the FIR as malicious prosecution and abuse of process, imposing ₹25 lakh costs on the complainant.
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