The Bombay High Court bench at Aurangabad has quashed and set aside an FIR and chargesheet against Mumbai-based advocate Rahul Sinha, ruling that continuation of criminal proceedings against him over an email he sent to his client would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
The criminal proceedings will, however, continue against the other two accused named in the FIR registered in 2022 by Nandurbar City police station and the chargesheet filed in 2023, the HC said.
Background of the Dispute
The matter stemmed from a civil dispute dating back to 2000 between Nandurbar resident Madanlal Lalchand Jain and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), which had been occupying Jain's property as a tenant. Jain filed a civil suit seeking possession. The suit was decreed in his favour in 2006 and the MSEDCL was directed to hand over vacant possession of the property.
When he did not get possession of the property, Jain initiated an execution proceeding in 2011. A possession warrant was issued on June 13, 2022, and the next day, a court bailiff attempted to execute it at the site in Nandurbar. During this process, MSEDCL officials (accused Nos. 1 and 2) allegedly obstructed the execution, claiming that a Special Leave Petition (SLP) had been filed before the Supreme Court against a related high court order.
Allegations Against Sinha
The allegation against Sinha was that he had sent an email to the MSEDCL officials on June 14, 2022, stating that an SLP (provisional number 12551 of 2022) had been filed, thereby enabling them to halt the execution by presenting this information to the bailiff. Based on a complaint by Jain, the police registered an FIR on Oct 22, 2022, for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and obstruction of a public servant. A chargesheet was filed on June 12, 2023.
Arguments by Sinha's Lawyers
Sinha's lawyers Joydeep Chatterjee, Amit Yadkikar and Akshay Kulkarni contended that he was not present at the execution site and had merely communicated factual information to his client (MSEDCL) from his Mumbai office by relying on Supreme Court e-filing records which showed the SLP process had indeed been generated at 5:22 pm on June 14, 2022. Besides, they argued that the email was sent by the advocate to his client which was a privileged communication. The advocates submitted that email was sent shortly thereafter at 5:33 pm. The SLP was later registered and eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court on June 27, 2022.
Court's Observations
The bench of Justice Neeraj P Dhote noted that the applicant's (Sinha) role was confined to sending an email and that the communication was addressed only to his client and not to the complainant or the executing authorities. "Undisputedly, he was not present on the spot. The role of the applicant is limited to sending email," the bench observed. It further held that no prima facie offence was made out against him and that compelling him to face trial would be unjustified.
