In Brief
The appellant entered into an agreement to purchase agricultural land on 4 July 1997. The seller later (20 February 1998) entered into a separate agreement to sell the same land to the complainant, but subsequently executed a sale deed in favour of the appellant in November 1998. The complainant filed a cheating complaint against both the appellant and the seller. The court quashed the charge against the appellant under Section 420 IPC, holding that a purchaser whose agreement predates the complainant's cannot be charged with cheating. Liability must lie with the seller, not the purchaser.
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