In a judgment delivered on October 3, 2024, the Supreme Court quashed criminal proceedings against two women involved in a loan fraud case dating back to 1998. The case concerned loans sanctioned by Ajay Kumar Behera, a Branch Manager at Allahabad Bank, Bhubaneswar, to Clarion Travels and Indo Global Projects Ltd. without sufficient security. The appellants, Tarina Sen and Shaileshree Sen, were implicated as partners in Clarion Travels.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had charged the denounced with trick, extortion, and debasement beneath the Indian Corrective Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act). In any case, the appellants come to a One-Time Settlement (OTS) with the bank, closing their advance account in 2011. In spite of this, the criminal procedures proceeded.
The Court, driven by Justice B.R. Gavai, concluded that proceeding criminal indictment in cases where debate have been settled, particularly in commercial exchanges, would be out of line. The Court emphasized that such cases, where the plausibility of conviction is farther, ought to be settled beneath Area 482 of the CrPC to anticipate undue partiality against the charged.
This ruling reaffirms the Court’s stance that in cases of financial and commercial disputes that have been amicably settled, continuation of criminal trials serves little purpose and causes unnecessary hardship to the accused.
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TAGS: Supreme Court loan fraud CBI One-Time Settlement quashing of proceedings Section 482 CrPC financial disputes.
