In Brief
An engineer invested ₹62 lakhs in a land development partnership with respondents in Coimbatore but received no returns or land share. When a cheque for ₹87 lakhs promised as repayment was dishonoured, the engineer filed a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and also sought registration of an FIR for cheating and criminal breach of trust. The High Court quashed the latter proceedings, treating them as abuse of process. The Supreme Court found that two equal-strength benches had taken conflicting views: one held different offences on same facts cannot be tried concurrently (G. Sagar Suri), while another held differing statutory ingredients permit separate trials (Sangeetaben Patel). The court referred the matter to a larger bench to resolve the conflict and ensure consistency in law.">
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