S.S. Saron, J. - (1.) THIS petition has been filed seeking pre -arrest bail in a case registered against the Petitioners who are the sons of Mahant Ramparkash seeking pre -arrest bail in case FIR No. 199 dated 24.08.2010 registered at Police Station Tarn Taran for the offences under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 IPC.
(2.) THE FIR, in the case, has been registered on the complaint of Mahant Chamkaur Singh, who has alleged that the property of Dharam -Arth has been misappropriated by the Petitioners. It is alleged that the property of Dera Addan Shahi Dharamshala, Katra Hari Singh, Amritsar and Dera Addan Shahi Dharmashala, Tikana Bhai, Tarn Taran is the property of Bhai Kanhaya Sewa Panthi Sect. The management of the same is done by the Mahants appointed to the Gaddi from time to time. There is a Will of Mahant Ramparkash (father of the Petitioners), which has been attached. The Petitioners have no right to the property of the Deras. However, Anoop Dass (Petitioner No. 2) in the year, 1975 leased out the property of Tarn Taran Dera unauthorizedly to Gurmukh Dass, Sanjeev Kumar and Kamlesh Rani. On 09.02.1996, Pushpa Rani (mother of the Petitioners) executed an illegal sale deed of property of Tarn Taran Dera at Delhi in favour of Gurmukh Singh, Sanjeev Kumar and Kamlesh Rani. The said sale deed was witnessed by the Petitioners. The Petitioners constituted HUF of the property of the Dera for the purposes of misappropriation and executed illegal registered sale deeds. A case with regard to the property was decided against them on 08.04.2009 by the Civil Court at Amritsar. The registered sale deed and lease deeds were cancelled. It is also stated that the Punjab Government had ordered that the religious property of the Dera should not be sold but the persons had misappropriated the religious properties. Learned Counsel for the Petitioners has contended that the dispute is purely civil in nature and no offence is made out against the Petitioners. The question of ownership, it is submitted, is subject to the decision of the Civil Court. It is accepted that although the civil suit filed by Sewa Panthi Addan Shahi Sabha (registered) against the Petitioners, their mother -Pushpa Rani and others has been decreed in favour of the Plaintiff -Sewa Panthi Addan Shahi Sabha vide judgment and decree dated 08.04.2009. However, appeal titled Rupesh Arora and Anr. v. Sewa Panthi Addan Shahi and others is pending in the Court of Additional District Judge, Amritsar and operation of the impugned order has been stayed vide order dated 02.06.2009 (Annexure P -4). Reliance has been placed on Md. Ibrahim and Ors. v. State of Bihar and Anr., 2009(4) RCR 369 to contend that where an accused had sold property of the owner claiming himself to be owner, the accused can be said to have cheated the purchaser and not the owner and the purchaser can file a complaint under Section 420 IPC and not the owner.
(3.) IN response, learned Counsel for the State has submitted that the Petitioners have sold the property of the Dera and committed the offence of cheating and misappropriation of the Dera properties. It is submitted that the purchasers of the property acted in collusion with the Petitioners. Besides, the purchasers Mahant Gurmukh Das and others filed an application for pre -arrest bail i.e. CRM No. M -27984 of 2010, which has been dismissed by this Court vide order dated 04.10.2010 (Annexure P -14). The said purchaser -Mahant Gurmukh Dass and others then filed Special Leave to Appeal Petition bearing SLP (Criminal) No. 8634 of 2010 in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India against the order dated 4.10.2010 (Annexure P14), which has been dismissed on 09.11.2010. It is submitted that the sale deed of the Dera property was executed on 09.02.1996 by Pushpa Rani (mother of the Petitioners) at Delhi and the Petitioners signed the same as attesting witnesses. The ratio of the judgment in Md. Ibrahim and others case (Supra), it is submitted, is not applicable as it is a case of misappropriation of the Dera property in collusion with the purchasers of the property and not a case of mere cheating.;