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Deo Kumar Paswan and ors. Vs. State of Jharkhand and anr.

Deo Kumar Paswan and ors. vs State of Jharkhand and anr.

Disposition Application allowed Court Jharkhand Decided Mar 18, 2004
~3 min read
https://sooperkanoon.com/case/519065

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Citation
Court
Jharkhand High Court
Judge
Decided On
Case Number
Cr. M.P. 804 of 2002
Subject
Property;Criminal
Disposition
Application allowed

Case Summary

AI-generated summary - not the official court judgment text.

(A) Indian Panel Code, 1860, Sections 420, 467, 468 and 505 - Offence thereunder--Submission of report for settlement of land--Merely because the report for settlement of land has been sent by petitioner in favour of a person other than the complainant, It cannot be presumed that officers have committed offence unde...

Key legal issue
Property;Criminal
Outcome / disposition
Application allowed
Acts & sections
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 - Sections 420, 467, 468 and 505

Parties & Advocates

Appellant / Petitioner

Deo Kumar Paswan and ors.

Advocate B.K. Dubey and B.N. Tiwary

Respondent

State of Jharkhand and anr.

Advocate A.P.P.B.K. Sinha

Legal References

Acts
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 - Sections 420, 467, 468 and 505
Reported In
2004(2)BLJR1356; [2005(2)JCR418(Jhr)]

Excerpt

(a) indian panel code, 1860, sections 420, 467, 468 and 505 - offence thereunder--submission of report for settlement of land--merely because the report for settlement of land has been sent by petitioner in favour of a person other than the complainant, it cannot be presumed that officers have committed offence under sections 420, 467, 468 and 505 ipc--intention of the complainant malafide--therefore, the entire proceedings and the order of cognizance quashed.(b) judicial process - scope of--it is well settled that judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression or intentional harassment--the court should be cautious and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all the relevant facts and circumstances into consideration before issuing any process. - order 47, rule 1: [tarun chatterjee & h.l. dattu, jj] pension claim - qualifying service - claim by petitioner to count earlier service rendered in co-operative institutions was rejected - review petition rejected on ground that there was no error apparent on face of the record -documents filed along with review petition was not considered supreme court in order to do complete justice directed high court to reconsider review petition by taking on record documents filed along with the review petition. - in the said complaint, the complainant alleged inter alia that he and his wife are in physical possession of the land in question which is gairmazarua land like other raiyati land and the same was approved for settlement after verification and report was sent by the karamchari in favour of his wife and the settlement proceeding was going on. it is well settled that judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression or intentional harassment......possession of the complainant. if the complainant is aggrieved by the said recommendation made by the revenue officer to the land reforms deputy collector he has got statutory remedy available under the law. merely because the report for settlement of land has been sent by the petitioners in favour of a person other than the complainant it cannot be presumed that officers have committed offence under sections 420, 467, 468 and 505, ipc.4. it is the case of the complainant that land dispute is going on by and between him and the petitioner no. 1 and there is dispute with regard to possession of the land. admittedly, land belongs to the government being a gairmazarua land. it is well settled that judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression or intentional harassment. the court should be cautious and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all the relevant facts and circumstances into consideration before issuing any process. otherwise it would be an instrument in the hand of private complainant a vendetta to harass the person intentionally.5. taking into consideration the entire facts of the case, i am of the view thatthe intention of the complainant is mala fide and the allegations do not constituteoffence. this application is, therefore, allowed and the entire proceeding and theorder of cognizance are quashed.

Full Judgment

M.Y. Eqbal, J.

1. Petitioners have filed the instant application under Section 482 of Cr PC for quashing the order dated 30.7.2002 by which the Judicial Magistrate, Chatra took cognizance of the offence under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 504 of the IPC against the petitioners in connection with Complaint Case No. 152/2002.

2. A copy of the complaint filed by complainant/opposite parties has been annexed as Annexure-1, to the application. In the said complaint, the complainant alleged inter alia that he and his wife are in physical possession of the land in question which is Gairmazarua land like other raiyati land and the same was approved for settlement after verification and report was sent by the Karamchari in favour of his wife and the settlement proceeding was going on. It is alleged that in the meantime petitioner approached the Circle Officer and tried to remit the said matter again to the Land Reforms Deputy Collector. The Complainant further alleged that the proceeding which was going on for settlement of land in favour of his wife, petitioner No. 2 pressed the Halka Karamchari to submit report in favour of petitioner No. 1, showing possession without giving intimation to the complainant. By all means petitioners succeeded in cancelling proposed Jamabandi to be allowed in favour of the wife of the complainant. It is further alleged that there was proceeding under Section 144, Cr PC which was initiated against between the petitioner and the complainant in which petitioner stated that land was already settled in favour of his father. In a nut shell allegation in the complainant is that the favour of his father. In a nut shell allegation in the complaint is that the Block Development Officer and the Circle Officer in connivance with petitioner No. 1 got the report submitted in favour of petitioner No. 1 for the settlement of land.

3. Heard learned counsel for the parties and examined the record. Prima facie it is apparent from the complaint petition that the complainant is aggrieved by the report submitted by the Revenue officer for the settlement of Gairmazarua land which is alleged to be in possession of the complainant. If the complainant is aggrieved by the said recommendation made by the Revenue officer to the Land Reforms Deputy Collector he has got statutory remedy available under the law. Merely because the report for settlement of land has been sent by the petitioners in favour of a person other than the complainant it cannot be presumed that officers have committed offence under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 505, IPC.

4. It is the case of the complainant that land dispute is going on by and between him and the petitioner No. 1 and there is dispute with regard to possession of the land. Admittedly, land belongs to the government being a Gairmazarua land. It is well settled that judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression or intentional harassment. The Court should be cautious and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all the relevant facts and circumstances into consideration before issuing any process. Otherwise it would be an instrument in the hand of private complainant a vendetta to harass the person intentionally.

5. Taking into consideration the entire facts of the case, I am of the view thatthe intention of the complainant is mala fide and the allegations do not constituteoffence. This application is, therefore, allowed and the entire proceeding and theorder of cognizance are quashed.

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