Times News Network
Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has ruled that police must not be allowed to investigate purely civil matters, while strongly disapproving of increasing instances of advocates being arraigned as accused in such cases.Quashing proceedings in three criminal cases relating to a disputed will on 5 acres 20 guntas of land in Nagarabhavi, Justice M Nagaprasanna observed in a recent order that police must exercise “investigative restraint” in disputes on title deeds, revenue entries, powers of attorney, or sale deeds unless allegations clearly suggest criminality.At the same time, the court said the criminal justice system, too, must do its homework on two fronts: During investigation and chargesheet; during the stage of framing charges by court. At both stages, courts enjoy power to stop proceedings which amount to abuse of process.S Rajendra, an advocate who appeared on behalf of some of the parties in the case, was arraigned as an accused in the three cases wherein cheating, forgery and other offences were alleged. The counsel for Rajendra submitted that just because the petitioner represented the parties before revenue authorities, he was arraigned as an accused.Complainants argued that Rajendra earlier handled a civil suit in 2001, knowing well that his father-in-law had entered into a sale agreement.After studying the case, Justice Nagaprasanna noted the complaint suggests a narrative was built around decades-old civil proceedings among the parties. No concrete cause of action from Aug 20, 2023 (date of complaint) was articulated in any of the complaints barring tampering with documents, he observed.On advocates being dragged into criminal proceedings, he observed that the court records its “deep disquiet at this disturbing trend”. The only “fault” is that advocates appeared for their clients before a judicial forum, the court said.
