A person not much aware of the functional difference between the criminal and civil courts and often ill-advised by the lawyers to register criminal case against the rival party if he has lost a property dispute in a civil court, the Supreme Court has a word of caution against taking such ill-advised legal venture.
In order to enlighten the common man against being misled to undertake such legal “misadventure” rather to settle the score in the criminal court after losing a property dispute in the civil suit, the apex court in an important judgement said that if at all such criminal case is ever registered, “delay” in filing of the FIR will be the crucial factor to decide whether the case was “motivated” or genuine.
“In such cases the trial courts should carefully examine the facts before it for the reason that a frustrated litigant who failed to succeed before the civil court may initiate criminal proceedings just to harass the other side with ‘mala fide’ intentions or the ulterior motive of wreaking vengeance on the other party,” said a bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan in the verdict making distinction between the civil and criminal proceedings.
The top court further clarified that the findings of fact recorded by the civil court did not have any bearing so far as the criminal case was concerned and vice-versa as the “standards of proof” were different in civil and criminal cases.
“In civil cases it is preponderance of probabilities while in the criminal cases it is proof beyond reasonable doubt.”
“Chagrined and frustrated litigants should not be permitted to give vent to their frustrations by cheaply invoking the jurisdiction of the criminal court. The court proceedings ought not to be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of harassment and persecution,” the top court ruled.
To save the people from the agony of facing arduous criminal proceedings, which were bound to dent the social reputation of a person, the apex court gave much importance to the timing of the FIR.
It explained that where an FIR is lodged clearly with a view to “spite” the other party because of a personal grudge, due to losing a civil case, the trial courts “may take a view that it amounts to an abuse of the process of law”.