Gujarat High Court
Yogesh Krishnavadan Surana vs Atul Manharlal Choksi on 3 September, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/19790/2013 ORDER DATED: 03/09/2025
undefined
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR QUASHING & SET ASIDE
FIR/ORDER) NO. 19790 of 2013
==========================================================
YOGESH KRISHNAVADAN SURANA
Versus
ATUL MANHARLAL CHOKSI & ANR.
==========================================================
Appearance:
MS BHAVIKA H KOTECHA(2942) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
ADVOCATE NOTICE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR. CHINTAN DAVE, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 2
==========================================================
CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI
Date : 03/09/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. Heard the learned advocate for the petitioner and the learned APP for the respondent-State. Though duly served, none has chosen to remain present on behalf of respondent No.2.
2. By way of the present petition, the petitioner has prayed for the quashing of FIR being I-C.R. No.31 of 2010, registered with D.C.B. Police Station, Ahmedabad City, for offenses punishable under Sections 406, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
3. Upon a perusal of the FIR as well as the initial charge-sheet, it becomes manifest that the name of the present petitioner does not find mention therein. What further emerges is that the petitioner's name surfaces only in the supplementary charge-sheet, predicated upon the statement of one Mr. Hardik Joshi dated 21.02.2011, Page 1 of 5 Uploaded by MANISH MISHRA(HC01776) on Mon Sep 08 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Sep 08 22:37:50 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/19790/2013 ORDER DATED: 03/09/2025 undefined annexed at Annexure-B.
4. In the conspectus of the aforesaid factual backdrop, the allegations sought to be imputed against the petitioner may be appreciated thus: At the relevant point of time, the petitioner was serving as a Sales Executive with Axis Bank, Maninagar Branch. It is alleged that two individuals, namely, Mr. Niral Desai and Mr. Vipul Dharmchand Shah, intended to open a bank account in the name of one Mr. Ashok Bhavandas Awati in the said branch. Mr. H.K. Joshi, whose statement has been recorded on 21.02.2011, was then functioning as the Branch Sales Manager. Since it was not feasible for him to personally reach out to the said individuals who were desirous of opening the account, the petitioner, being a Sales Executive at the branch, is sought to have been associated in the process.
5. According to the FIR, certain additional material came to light during the course of investigation, culminating in the filing of a supplementary charge-sheet. It is alleged therein that the petitioner had obtained documents from the individual who had tendered the same to the bank, which ultimately facilitated the opening of an account in the name of one Mr. Ashok Bhavandas Awati.
6. The gravamen of the prosecution case is that shares valued at ₹30,000/-, belonging to the said Mr. Ashok Bhavandas Awati and maintained in a demat account with Axis Bank, came to be fraudulently sold by one Mr. Niravkumar Harishchandra Desai in Page 2 of 5 Uploaded by MANISH MISHRA(HC01776) on Mon Sep 08 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Sep 08 22:37:50 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/19790/2013 ORDER DATED: 03/09/2025 undefined concert with other accused persons, thereby precipitating the filing of the present complaint.
7. In the factual matrix, if the role of the present petitioner is objectively ascertained, it becomes evident that his involvement was confined merely to procuring the requisite documents, as instructed by his immediate superior, Mr. Hardik Joshi, and thereafter submitting the same before the Axis Bank, Maninagar Branch, for the limited purpose of facilitating the opening of the bank account.
8. In the aforesaid circumstances, upon appraisal of the material on record, this Court is of the considered view that the role attributed to the petitioner has been grossly magnified, nay, blown out of proportion. At the highest, his position in the factual matrix would render him a material witness rather than an accused.
9. It would be apposite to refer the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, reported in 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335, wherein, in Paragraph 102, it is held as under:
"102. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Ch. XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary power under Art. 226 or the inherent powers under sec. 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and Page 3 of 5 Uploaded by MANISH MISHRA(HC01776) on Mon Sep 08 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Sep 08 22:37:50 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/19790/2013 ORDER DATED: 03/09/2025 undefined to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be exercised.
(1) Where the allegations made in the first information report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused.
(2) Where the allegations in the first information report and other materials, if any, accompanying the FIR do not disclose a cognizable offence, justifying an investigation by police officers under sec. 156(1) of the Code except under an order of a Magistrate within the purview of sec.
155(2) of the Code.
(3) Where the uncontroverted allegations made in the FIR or complaint and the evidence collected in support of the same do not disclose the commission of any offence and make out a case against the accused.
(4) Where, the allegations in the FIR do not constitute a cognizable offence but constitute only a noncognizable offence, no investigation is permitted by a police officer without an order of a Magistrate as contemplated under sec. 155(2) of the Code.
(5) Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd and inherently improbable on the basis of which no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused.
(6) Where there is an express legal bar engrafted in any of the provisions of the Code or the concerned Act (under which a criminal proceeding is instituted) to the institution and continuance of the proceedings and/or where there is a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party.
(7) Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide and/or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge."
Page 4 of 5 Uploaded by MANISH MISHRA(HC01776) on Mon Sep 08 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Sep 08 22:37:50 IST 2025NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/19790/2013 ORDER DATED: 03/09/2025 undefined
10. In this backdrop, the inclusion of his name in the array of accused and the consequent filing of the charge-sheet against him, in the considered opinion of this Court, amounts to an abuse of the process of law. Ergo, the petitioner is not required to be subjected to the rigours of a criminal trial.
11. Accordingly, the present petition deserves to be allowed and is hereby ALLOWED. The FIR, being I-C.R. No.31 of 2010, registered with D.C.B. Police Station, Ahmedabad City, along with all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom, is hereby quashed and set aside qua the petitioner. Rule is made absolute. Direct service is permitted.
(J. C. DOSHI,J) MANISH MISHRA Page 5 of 5 Uploaded by MANISH MISHRA(HC01776) on Mon Sep 08 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Sep 08 22:37:50 IST 2025