In a significant order, the Bombay High Court last week ordered a couple to pay Rs 1 lakh each to the KEM cancer hospital to get the FIR quashed in which they are named. The HC has also ordered the complainant in the case to pay Rs 1 lakh too, as she has now settled the dispute with the accused couple.
A bench of Justices Prasanna Varale and Anil Kilor was hearing petitions filed by Shalini Singh, 27 and Dinesh Singh, 33, both residents of suburban Kandivli, seeking to quash the FIR lodged against them in Andheri police station under charges of fraud.
The FIR in question was lodged at the behest of one Jerome D'Souza from Malad in March 2021. She claimed that during the period from 2016 to 2019, the accused couple, in furtherance of their common intention to cheat her, had given a false promise of performing the marriage. She further claimed that accordingly, the couple induced her and withdrew an amount of Rs 1 crore from her bank account.
In their petitions filed through advocate Nikhil Mendge, the accused couple stated that they have settled the dispute with Jerome and have signed consent terms with her, wherein they have agreed to repay the amount of Rs 1 crore.
Perusing the FIR, the judges said, "It is revealed that the dispute involved in the present case is a commercial dispute and no public element of the law is involved."
"Moreover, as the accused have already deposited an amount of Rs 1 crore 43 thousand in this Court, as per the Consent Terms, according to us, no purpose would be served even if the trial is permitted to continue," the judges said, adding, "We are of the view that the continuation of prosecution of the couple in the instant case will amount to an abuse of the process of Court and therefore, it is in the fitness of things to quash the FIR and proceedings in order to secure the ends of justice."
The bench further said that given the fact that police machinery was used, some conditions are deemed to be imposed.
"As the police machinery was used by the parties to settle their private disputes as a corollary of differences of opinion, we find it would be appropriate to saddle the parties with costs," the bench said, adding, "The FIR will be quashed subject to payment of costs of Rs 1 lakh each by the accused and the complainant which shall be paid to KEM Cancer Hospital, in two equal monthly instalments, within eight weeks," the bench concluded.
