- (1.) A sale deed was executed by the respondent No. 2 in favour of the applicant Nos. 1 and 2 and another in which applicant Nos. 3 and 4 were witnesses. The said sale deed was registered by the Sub-Registrar Nakur, district Saharanpur on 13-10-1993. A first information report was lodged and case Crime No. 225 of 1993 was registered on 25-10-1993 by sub registrar, respondent No. 2, on the allegation that the photograph of the respondent No. 3 on the deed was forged. There was an allegation that when the said fact was detected by him he inquired the matter from his office and on 18-10-1983 two unknown persons came at his residence and pressed for changing the said photograph in the original deed. The applicants having come to know about the case surrendered before the Court and bail was granted accordingly. After the said incident respondent No. 3, Salma Begum, aged about 75 years, filed civil suit before the Civil Judge, Saharanpur (No. 533 of 1993) wherein she prayed for the cancellation of the sale deed amongst others. Having found the possession in favour of the applicants Civil Judge, Saharanpur passed an order to maintain status quo. The applicants moved an application before the Tahsildar Nakur for mutation and the same is pending. After investigation the police has submitted charge-sheet against the applicants under Ss. 420, 468, 471, I.P.C. on 30-1-1994. Against that charge-sheet applicants have filed this application to quash the proceeding by invoking inherent power under S. 482, Cr. P.C. on the ground that cognizance is bad and that there was delay in lodging the first information report.
(2.) Learned counsel for the applicants has submitted that when civil case has been filed for the cancellation of the deed on the ground that forgery was committed and the same is pending for consideration, Criminal Court has no jurisdiction to proceed with the said allegation and decide accordingly. According to him the police has got no authority to investigate the case on the first information report lodged by the sub-registrar or that nocognizance can be taken on the so-called investigation made by the police by any Court of law. Accordingly, the first information report and the charge-sheet are liable to be quashed. Learned counsel for the applicants has also referred the case of Ishwar Das v. Ram Das Gupta reported in 1990 (27) ACC 616 and submitted that when the alleged forged document has been produced in the suit and reliance has been placed thereon by the parties, cognizance for the offence punishable under Ss. 468/471/420, I.P.C. in respect of that document cannot be taken by any Criminal Court unless a complaint to that effect is filed by the Court in which the document was produced. In that decision it has been held that the alleged Magistrate while directing the police to persue the alleged receipt in order to find out whether or not it has been executed by the opposite party No. 1, lost sight of an important fact that the same matter is involved for the determination in the civil suit. It has also been observed that the learned Magistrate erroneously conferred that right on the police officer as shown above and, therefore, order conferring that power can in my opinion be recalled.
(3.) In that suit the plaintiff produced the receipt purported to be forged before the Court in the suit brought by him for specific performance of agreement. The plaintiff filed various documents including the receipt which the respondents on coming to know reported the matter to the police and a case was started. Upon the investigation the police submitted final report to the effect that no prima facie case was made out. The respondents had filed an application for investigation which also met the same fate. Another application was filed for further examination of the disputed receipt and consequent to it an application was filed in the Civil Court for the custody of the said receipt, which was rejected by the learned Munsif Magistrate. Thereafter, an application under S. 482, Cr. P.C. was moved before, this Court to quash the criminal proceedings invoking its inherent power.;