Assurance Of Jobs For Money Amounts To Cheating, Not Criminal Breach Of Trust: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, on Wednesday (March 18), upheld a conviction of cheating (Section 420 of IPC) against a man who impersonated as the former Collector of Neemuch and fraudulently convinced job aspirants to pay him ₹2 lakh each with false assurances of securing public employment, observing that his conduct amounted to cheating and not criminal breach of trust. The bench of Justice Gajendra Singh held, "Cheating with students on the assurance of securing employment in public offices is a serious offence. In the present case, a lenient view cannot be adopted. The sentence imposed under Section 420 of the IPC is proportionate. Accordingly, no interference with the conviction or sentence under Section 420 of the IPC is required. Therefore, this revision petition is partly allowed, and the revision petitioner/accused, Rameshchandra, is acquitted from the charges under Section 406 of the IPC. His conviction and sentence under Section 420 of the IPC is maintained". A criminal revision was filed challenging the judgment of the Sessions Court wherein the petitioner was convicted for cheating (Section 420) and criminal breach of trust (Section 406) of IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 3 years with fine with default stipulation of 3 months. Per the facts, the petitioner impersonated as the ex-Collectorate of Neemuch and persuaded aspirants of Sahayak Samparikshak, Patwari & other posts Combined Recruitment Test - 2022 conducted by the Employee Selection Board of Bhopal. He persuaded the aspirants to provide ₹2 Lakh per candidate with the assurance that they would secure an appointment. The petitioner received the said amount of ₹2 lakh each from 5 aspirants. Subsequently, an FIR was lodged on October 22, 2023, and a final report was filed after the conclusion of the investigation. During the trial, the prosecution examined as many as 10 witnesses, including the 6 victims. The counsel for the petitioner contended that the Trial Court ignored the contradictions in the statements of witnesses and documents collected during the investigation. The bench noted that the actions of the petitioner squarely fall within the ambit of Section 420 of the IPC. The court reiterated that the offence of criminal breach of trust and cheating cannot co-exist, and therefore, both charges cannot be sustained simultaneously. Therefore, the bench allowed the revision partly by acquitting him of charges under Section 406 but sustained his conviction under Section 420 of the IPC. Case Title: Rameshchandra v State of Madhya Pradesh [CRR 4644 of 2025]Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (MP) 81For Petitioner: Advocate Vishal Patidar For State: Government Advocate Ambuj Patel Click here to read/download the Order

Assurance Of Jobs For Money Amounts To Cheating, Not Criminal Breach Of Trust: MP High Court

Jayanti Pahwa

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