Supreme Court - Daily Orders
M.Vinod Kumar vs H.D.Kumaraswamy on 27 September, 2016
Bench: Ranjan Gogoi, Prafulla C. Pant
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.921 OF 2016
(Arising out of SLP(Crl.) No.949 of 2012)
M.VINOD KUMAR ...APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
H.D.KUMARASWAMY & ANR ...RESPONDENT(S)
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.922 OF 2016
(Arising out of SLP(Crl.) No.1577 of 2012)
M.VINOD KUMAR ...APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
M/S. JANTHAKAL ENTERPRISES ...RESPONDENT(S)
O R D E R
1. Leave granted.
2. The challenge in these appeals is against the order of the High Court by which criminal proceedings against the respondents- H.D. Kumaraswamy (Accused No.6) and Anitha Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by NEETU KHAJURIA Date: 2016.09.28 Kumaraswamy (Accused No.7) in Criminal Appeal 17:33:52 IST Reason: arising out of SLP(Crl) No.949/2012 and 2 respondent-M/s. Janthakal Enterprises (accused No.8) in Criminal Appeal arising out of SLP(Crl) No.1577/2012 has been quashed.
3. The principal allegations against the accused on the basis of which the criminal proceedings were launched by the appellant-complainant pertain to bulk allotments of over 80 acres of land made by the State Government to one M/s. Vishwabharathi House Building Co-operative Society Limited (for short, “the Society”) and the transactions of transfer of land by the Society in favour of Anitha Kumaraswamy (Accused No.7). The second allegation pertains to orders passed in the file by H.D. Kumaraswamy (Accused No.6) who was the then Chief Minister of the State permitting M/s. Janthakal Enterprises (Accused No.8) to lift about one lakh metric ton of mineral which was lying in the mine in question, lease of which was transferred to M/s. Janthakal Enterprises (Accused No.8).
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4. We have heard the learned counsels for the parties. We have considered the elaborate order of the High Court, the complaint petition and the materials available on record. Having considered the same, we are of the view that the High Court ought not to have quashed the proceedings against the accused and instead should have permitted the trial to commence and continue. The High Court in the order under challenge has virtually appreciated and considered the factual defences put forward by the accused which really ought to have been adjudicated in the trial. We, therefore, set aside the order of the High Court and direct that the criminal proceedings in question will recommence.
5. We make it clear that we have expressed no opinion on the merits of the case. All defences are open and the interference made with the order of the High Court is only on the ground that the present 4 cases were not fit for being quashed by the High Court in exercise of power under Section 482 of Cr.P.C.
6. The appeals stand allowed as indicated above.
....................,J.
(RANJAN GOGOI) ....................,J.
(PRAFULLA C. PANT)
NEW DELHI
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
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ITEM NO.2 COURT NO.5 SECTION IIB
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 949/2012
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 21.10.2011 in Criminal Petition No.4707 of 2011 passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore.) M.VINOD KUMAR Petitioner(s) VERSUS H.D.KUMARASWAMY & ANR Respondent(s) (with appln.(s) for stay and office report) WITH SLP(Crl) No. 1577/2012 (With Office Report) Date : 27/09/2016 These petitions were called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRAFULLA C. PANT For Petitioner(s) Mr. Nikhil Majithia,Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. V. Giri,Sr. Adv.
Mr. Prashant Kumar, Adv. Mr. Amit Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajan Singh, Adv.
Mr. Yogesh Kumar Dahiya, Adv. Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad,Adv.
Mr. P. S. Sudheer,Adv.
Mr. Rishi Maheshwari, Adv. Ms. Anne Mathew, Adv.
Ms. Mayuri Nayyar, Adv. Ms. Shruti Jose, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R Leave granted.6
The appeals are allowed in terms of the signed order.
(Neetu Khajuria) (Asha Soni) Court Master Court Master
(Signed order is placed on the file.)