In Brief
The Managing Director of a real estate company filed an appeal against a High Court order rejecting his petition to quash a criminal FIR filed under the SC/ST Act and IPC sections relating to a property development dispute. The property had been purchased by original owners in 1954-55 with occupancy rights established in 1961. After entering into a joint development agreement in 2009 and obtaining all requisite permissions, the company completed a 400+ unit apartment complex and sold units in 2017. An unsuccessful claimant then filed civil suits and, after losing them, lodged the FIR through his mother. The Supreme Court found an unexplained 60-year delay in claiming ownership, followed by resort to criminal proceedings only after civil suits failed. Holding this constituted abuse of process motivated by vengeance, the Court quashed the FIR, emphasizing that police must be vigilant before mechanically invoking stringent statutes like the SC/ST Act.
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