Criminal Law Cannot Be Used To Settle Internal Disputes: J&K&L High Court Quashes FIR Against Ex-Ranji Cricketer

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed an FIR registered against an ex-Ranji Trophy player Majid Dar alleging production of a false date of birth certificate, holding that criminal law cannot be permitted to be used as an instrument of harassment or for settling internal disputes of an institution.The Court observed that once the complainant association itself, after examining the matter through its internal mechanism, found the allegations to be baseless and unsupported by official record, continuation of proceedings would serve no useful purpose.The Court was hearing a petition filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashing of FIR registered by the Crime Branch, Kashmir, along with the complaint and preliminary verification. A Bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, while observing that “the material brought on record prima facie reflects that the impugned proceedings stemmed from internal disputes prevailing within the Association at the relevant point of time rather than from any genuine criminal misconduct attributable to the petitioner,” held that the continuation of criminal proceedings despite the absence of foundational material would amount to misuse of the criminal justice system.The petitioner, an ex-Ranji player who represented the State of Jammu & Kashmir (now Union Territory) in Ranji Trophy Cricket from 2003 to 2014, was accused by the Chief Executive Officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) of producing a false date of birth certificate reflecting his date of birth as 30.12.1978 while his actual date of birth was stated to be 30.12.1970 at the time of registration for the Ranji Trophy Tournament in the year 2013. The complaint alleged that the petitioner had thereby fraudulently secured registration and obtained monetary and other benefits.Pursuant to the complaint, the Crime Branch initiated a preliminary verification. During the enquiry, the JKCA conducted an internal enquiry and found the allegations against the petitioner to be unsustainable. The complaint was subsequently withdrawn and the Crime Branch was informed that the allegations were false and devoid of logic. Despite subsequent communications wherein the Association reiterated that the available record had been furnished and sought closure of the complaint, the enquiry proceedings continued, leading to registration of the FIR. Adjudicating the matter the Court examined the material on record, including the internal enquiry findings of the JKCA. It noted that the certificate issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education appeared prima facie unreliable, particularly in view of the fact that the marriage of the parents of the petitioner had taken place in the year 1973, thereby rendering the allegation regarding his year of birth being 1970 doubtful.The Court further observed that the Sub-Committee of the J&K Cricket Association had concluded that the allegations were baseless and appeared to have been levelled only to harass the petitioner on account of internal disputes prevailing within the Association at the relevant point of time. The Court noted, “... for participation in the Ranji Trophy, age is immaterial and there exists no age restriction for playing the tournament. Moreover, the remuneration received by the petitioner was solely towards the matches played by him for J&K in the Ranji Trophy, which was his legitimate entitlement, and no element of misappropriation of funds was found attributable to him.”Significantly, the Court recorded that Brigadier Anil Gupta (Retd.), Member Administration, JKCA, had categorically stated before the learned Registrar Judicial that the J&K Cricket Association did not wish to pursue the prosecution any further and sought closure of the impugned FIR. The Senior AAG for the UT also submitted that in light of the stand taken by the complainant-association, he had no objection to the closure or quashment of the FIR.Relying on the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992 Supp (1) SCC 335), the Court held that where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide intention or maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance, the High Court would be justified in exercising its inherent powers to quash such proceedings. The Court observed, “.. This Court cannot overlook that criminal law cannot be permitted to be used as an instrument of harassment or for settling internal disputes of an institution. Once the complainant itself, after examining the entire matter through its internal mechanism, has found the allegations to be baseless, unfounded and unsupported by the official record, continuation of criminal proceedings would serve no useful purpose and would amount to abuse of the process of law.”Further, the Court held, “The very substratum of the allegations having been rendered non-existent, continuation of the impugned proceedings would amount to...

Criminal Law Cannot Be Used To Settle Internal Disputes: J&K&L High Court Quashes FIR Against Ex-Ranji Cricketer

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Criminal Law Cannot Be Used To Settle Internal Disputes: J&K&L High Court Quashes FIR Against Ex-Ranji Cricketer

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