Sompal Singh vs State Of Uttarakhand & Ors.

Hon’ble Siddhartha Sah, J. (Oral)

Though, the matter is listed on an urgency application, i.e., I.A. No. 8 of 2026, it has transpired that the entire loan amount advanced by the Bank in respect of the tractor, which is the subject matter of the FIR, has already been paid off. It has further transpired that the said tractor continues to stand recorded in the Transport Department in the names of Rupa and Dillo. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the matter is taken up for final consideration.

By means of this Criminal Misc. Application, under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the applicant seeks quashing of the impugned charge sheet dated 29.2.2020 summoning order dated 4.12.2020 and entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 1510 of 2020 (Case crime no. 538/2019) under Section 406,120-B IPC, P.S. Laksar District Haridwar pending before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Laksar Haridwar.

Admit.

Facts necessary for the adjudication of the instant criminal misc. application under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. are as follows:—

Assailing the aforesaid charge sheet and summoning order, and seeking quashing of the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 1510 of 2020 (Case Crime No. 538 of 2019) under Sections 406 and 120-B of the IPC, the learned counsel for the applicant would submit that the impugned charge sheet and summoning order are unsustainable in the eyes of law and liable to be set aside, because there is no evidence on record to prove the alleged offences against the present applicant, and the learned Magistrate has erred in law by summoning the applicant in a routine manner.

Drawing the attention of the Court to the supplementary affidavit dated 18th December, 2022, learned counsel for the applicant would submit that the vehicle which was purchased by means of the loan in question has not been sold by the borrower, which is evident from the Registration Certificate (RC) of the vehicle. A copy of the RC of the vehicle is annexed, in which the owner's name is reflected as Rupa and Dillo.

It is further stated in the supplementary affidavit that the borrower has now cleared the entire outstanding dues of the loan from the bank, and there is no amount remaining to be paid towards the loan in question. A copy of the one-time settlement with the bank, namely Punjab National Bank, is also placed on record as Annexure No. 2 to the supplementary affidavit.

Based on the aforesaid documents, the learned counsel for the applicant would submit that the applicant before this Court is only a guarantor, and the main borrower has cleared the loan from the bank and no amount remains to be paid. Furthermore, the vehicle alleged to have been sold was not sold by the borrower, as is evident from the Registration Certificate of the vehicle.

Learned counsel for the applicant has also drawn the attention of the Court to a compliance affidavit dated 9th November, 2023 on behalf of the Investigating Officer. Para 4 of the compliance affidavit is extracted hereinbelow for ready reference:-

Referring to paragraph 4 of the compliance affidavit of the Investigating Officer, learned counsel for the applicant would further submit that on 05.11.2025, Anand Vardhan, Division Inspector (Primary Development), Sub-Division, Transport Officer, Haridwar, went to the house of the registered owners of tractor No. UK 08 P 4318, Rupa and Dillo, sons of Harmal and wife Rupa, residents of Rasulpur alias Kankarkhata, Laksar, Haridwar, in the presence of the deponent (IO), and the registered owners of the tractor, upon inspection of the engine number and chassis number of tractor No. UK 08 P 4318, found that its chassis number was QZCM61617120789 and engine number was 471402SMM3830, which matched the registration record. Photography was also done on the spot.

He would further submit that the same demonstrates that the tractor in question has, in fact, not been sold and is with the registered owners, Rupa and Dillo. He would further submit that the tractor is lying with the actual owners, and the applicant before the Court is only a guarantor. As such, it would be a futile exercise to let the matter proceed to trial, inasmuch as the tractor has been found to have not been sold and, in fact, the dues of the bank, which was the complainant, already stand paid off as on 19.11.2022. He would further submit that continuation of the further proceedings in the aforesaid criminal case pending before the concerned court would be a futile exercise and, in the interest of justice, the criminal proceedings qua the present applicant deserve to be quashed.

Learned Brief Holder for the State, Mr. Vikas Uniyal, would not deny or dispute that the tractor in question was found lying at the house of Rupa and Dillo, the accused persons who are the owners and in whose names the Registration Certificate was issued.

Mr. Kanti Ram Sharma, learned counsel holding brief of Mr. I.P. Kohli, learned counsel for the bank, would also admit that the bank dues stand duly paid in entirety and no dues remain to be paid by the applicant. He would also not deny or dispute that the tractor in question is lying with the actual owners, that is, Rupa and Dillo.

Considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case, the criminal case was initiated on the basis of the FIR dated 20.08.2019, in which it was stated that the accused persons, Rupa, Dillo, Sompal, Ram Singh and Sohan Veer, in collusion and with the intention of cheating the bank, had sold tractor Swaraj 855, which was mortgaged with the bank and had been purchased for the purpose of agricultural work, to some unknown person, and that the bank loan had also not been paid off. On the basis of the said FIR, the investigation resulted in the filing of the charge sheet.

However, in view of the fact that it has been verified by the Investigating Officer, as is evident from the compliance affidavit dated 9th November, 2025, that the tractor in question was found at the house of its registered owners, namely, Rupa and Dillo, and further, since learned counsel for the complainant Bank does not dispute or deny that the entire loan amount has already been paid, the very foundation of the prosecution case stands undermined.

The prosecution case is founded on the allegation that the tractor had been sold to some unknown person with an intention to cheat the Bank and that the loan amount had not been repaid. However, the aforesaid facts establish that the tractor was neither sold nor transferred to any third person and continues to stand in the name of its registered owners. Moreover, the dues of the Bank have already been settled under a One-Time Settlement (OTS).

In view of the aforesaid circumstances, continuation of the criminal proceedings against the applicant would serve no useful purpose and would amount to a futile exercise. Therefore, the criminal proceedings against the applicant deserve to be quashed.

Accordingly, the impugned charge sheet dated 29.2.2020, the summoning order dated 4.12.2020 and the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 1510 of 2020 (Case Crime No. 538/2019) under Section 406,120-B IPC, P.S. Laksar District Haridwar pending before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Laksar Haridwar, are hereby quashed qua the applicant.

The instant criminal misc. application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is accordingly allowed.

Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.