Published on: October 30, 2023 at 13:11 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Ram Sumer Puri Mahant V. State of U.P. (1985)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that proceedings under Section 145, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 must come to an end the moment Civil Suit for possession and injunction is preferred before the Civil Court of appropriate jurisdiction. It is held that the decree of the civil court is binding on the criminal court in terms of ownership and possession over the same place land.
2. Challenge in this application is to the order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to interfere in its revisional jurisdiction against an order directing initiation of proceedings under Section 145, Code of Criminal Procedure (‘Code’ for short), and attachment of the property at the instance of Respondents 2-5. Indisputably, in respect of the very property there was a suit for possession and injunction being Title Suit No. 87 of 1975 filed in the Court of Civil Judge at Ballia wherein the question of title was gone into and by judgment dated February 28, 1981, the said suit was dismissed.
The appellant was the. defendant in that suit. ,…………………., we see hardly any justification for initiating a parallel criminal proceeding under Section 145 of the Code. There is no scope to doubt or dispute the position that the decree of the civil court is binding on the criminal court in a matter like the one before us. Counsel for Respondents 2-5 was not in a position to challenge the proposition that parallel proceedings should not be permitted to continue and in the event of a decree of the civil court, the criminal court should not be allowed to invoke its jurisdiction particularly when possession is being examined by the civil court and parties are in a position to approach the civil court for interim orders such as injunction or appointment of receiver for adequate protection of the property during pendency of the dispute. Multiplicity of litigation is not in the interest of the parties nor should public time be allowed to be wasted over meaningless litigation.
We are, therefore, satisfied that parallel proceedings should not continue and the order of the learned Magistrate should be quashed. We accordingly allow the appeal and quash the order of the learned Magistrate by which the proceeding under Section 145 of the Code has been initiated and the property in dispute has been attached. We leave it open to either party to move the appellate Judge in the civil litigation for appropriate interim orders, if so advised, in the event of dispute relating to possession.
Drafted by Abhijit Mishra
