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New Indian Express
5 days ago
- New Indian Express
Karnataka High Court warns against weaponisation of law
BENGALURU: Courts must remain vigilant against the weaponisation of criminal law in civil disputes as the law, when misused, ceases to be a shield and becomes a sword, the Karnataka High Court said while quashing a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court was hearing a petition filed by realtor Vilas Bhormalji Oswal from Solapur, Maharashtra, questioning the proceedings pending before a special court brought about by his business partner under provisions of the IPC and SC/ST Act. 'The complainant, to wreak vengeance or arm-twist the petitioner over a financial dispute, has made use of the criminal justice system. The complaint is a blade of vengeance, cloaked in the garb of law. A criminal trial, if permitted to proceed, would amount to an egregious abuse of legal machinery,' said Justice M Nagaprasanna. The court said apart from the delay of 118 days in lodging the complaint before the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement, which sat on it for over three years, no casteist remark was made. A financial dispute between two partners is projected to become a crime, court said. The complainant Somashekara, Oswal and two others were partners in a real estate firm, Green Land Infra, in the city. The dispute surfaced because the petitioner did not sign several documents, resulting in various developments being stalled. The petitioner allegedly threatened the complainant with dire consequences if he did not receive his invested money back from the firm and hurled abuses on December 23, 2020.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Courts must remain vigilant against weaponisation of criminal laws: Karnataka High Court
Courts must remain vigilant against the weaponisation of criminal law for settling civil disputes as the law, when misused, ceases to be a shield and becomes a sword, said the High Court of Karnataka while quashing a criminal case registered against a man by his business partner by invoking provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to settle a financial dispute. 'The complainant to take revenge or arm twist the petitioner for financial dispute, has made use of the criminal justice system. The subject complaint is a blade of vengeance, cloaked in the garb of law,' the court observed. Justice M. Nagaprasanna made these observations while quashing the criminal proceedings against Vilas Bhormalji Oswal on a complaint lodged by his estranged business partner Somashekara of Bengaluru. Case background Mr. Oswal and Mr. Somashekara were partners in Green Land Infra, a real estate development firm established in 2011, with the former being authorised signatory of the firm and the latter being the managing director. However, certain differences cropped up between them leading to closure of the business in 2016 resulting in unresolved disputes. Meanwhile, Mr. Somashekara, who is a Scheduled Caste (SC), lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) in April 2021 alleging that Mr. Oswal had made a casteist remark against him in December 2020. However, the DCRE had not acted on the complaint for nearly three years. Interestingly, the DCRE in February, 2024, recorded the statement of Mr. Somashekara and in March 2024 recorded the statements of two witnesses, known to Mr. Somashekara, who stated that they were present when Mr. Oswal allegedly abused the complainant. After recording the statements, the DCRE forwarded the complaint to the Jayanagar police in April 2024 for registering the criminal case. The police, after investigation, filed the charge sheet against Mr. Oswal and a trial court took cognisance of offences against him in June, 2024. However, the HC pointed out that the only allegation against Mr. Oswal in the complaint was that he told Mr. Somashekar at the playground, 'do not show your casteist mindset' and there was no allegation that the petitioner abused Mr. Somashekar by taking the name of his caste or that the so-called abuse was made in front of two persons, who were treated as witnesses after four years. Not in complaint 'The so-called eyewitnesses again are to be held to have been procured later, as there is no narration in the complaint that the incident was witnessed by two eyewitnesses nor the eyewitnesses would say that they accompanied the complainant to the ground,' the court observed while stating that if this case is permitted to proceed on these glaring facts, it would amount to an egregious abuse of legal machinery.
