*Quashes FIR against former Ranji player
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 19: Observing that criminal proceedings cannot be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of persecution, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed FIR registered against former Ranji cricketer Majid Yaqoob Dar in an alleged date-of-birth manipulation case.
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Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal passed the judgment while allowing a petition seeking quashment of the FIR registered by Crime Branch, Kashmir, along with the original complaint lodged by the then Chief Executive Officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, preliminary verification proceedings and consequential communications issued by the Economic Offences Wing.
The complaint, lodged on September 12, 2020, alleged that Majid Dar had produced a false date of birth certificate showing his date of birth as December 30, 1978 while his actual date of birth was allegedly December 30, 1970 at the time of registration for Ranji Trophy tournaments, thereby fraudulently securing registration and obtaining monetary and other benefits.
Pursuant to the complaint, Crime Branch, Kashmir initiated a preliminary enquiry and appointed the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Economic Offence Wing, Crime Branch Kashmir, as enquiry officer.
However, during the course of enquiry, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association conducted an internal enquiry and found the allegations against the petitioner to be unsustainable, following which the complaint was withdrawn through a report dated March 16, 2022 and the Crime Branch was informed that the allegations were false and devoid of logic.
Despite communications exchanged between the enquiry officer and the JKCA, wherein the Association reiterated that available records had already been furnished and sought closure of the complaint, the enquiry proceedings continued.
Counsel appearing for the petitioner drew the attention of the High Court to communications issued by the JKCA Sub-Committee, which stated that the complaint lodged by the then Chief Executive Officer appeared to have been motivated and aimed at victimization of the petitioner, particularly when the date of birth of the petitioner had already been accepted and acted upon at the relevant point of time.
The High Court noted that the Sub-Committee had also observed that despite the alleged discrepancy, Majid Dar had subsequently represented the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association in senior tournaments and had performed commendably, which was reflected in official records.
The High Court further observed that the Sub-Committee found the allegations baseless and appearing to have been leveled only to harass the petitioner on account of internal disputes prevailing in the Association at the relevant point of time.
Pursuant to directions issued by the court, the statement of Brigadier Anil Gupta (Retd), Member Administration, JKCA was recorded before the Registrar Judicial, Srinagar. The High Court noted that Brigadier Anil Gupta categorically stated that the JKCA did not wish to pursue the prosecution any further and sought closure of the impugned FIR.
The statement further revealed that for participation in the Ranji Trophy, age was immaterial as there existed no age restriction for playing the tournament and that the remuneration received by the petitioner was solely towards the matches played by him for Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy, which was his legitimate entitlement.
The High Court also took note of the statement that the matter neither involved public funds nor any allegation of misappropriation and that the complaint appeared to have been motivated and intended to victimize the petitioner.
Justice Nargal observed that once the complainant association itself, after examining the matter through its internal mechanism, had found the allegations to be baseless, unfounded and unsupported by official record, continuation of criminal proceedings would serve no useful purpose and would amount to abuse of the process of law.
“Criminal law cannot be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of persecution or be utilized for oblique purposes arising out of personal or institutional rivalries,” the High Court observed.
Relying upon the Supreme Court judgments in State of Haryana Vs Bhajan Lal and Mohd Wajid Vs State of UP, the High Court reiterated that inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC can be exercised where criminal proceedings are manifestly attended with mala fide intention or maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance.
Holding that the very substratum of the allegations had been rendered non-existent, the High Court ruled that continuation of the impugned proceedings would amount to sheer abuse of the process of law and unnecessary harassment to the petitioner.
Accordingly, the High Court quashed FIR No. 26/2023 dated May 25, 2023, complaint No. JKCA/CEO/20/230 dated September 12, 2020, preliminary verification No. 40/2021 and all consequential proceedings emanating there from.
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