Navneet Soni @ Pintu Vs State of Chhattisgarh (Chhattisgarh High Court)
The petitioner filed a petition under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking quashment of FIR No. 39/2025 dated 26.05.2025 registered at Police Station Kusmi, District Balrampur-Ramanujganj, for offences under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B read with Section 34 of the IPC. The petitioner also sought quashing of the charge-sheet dated 31.08.2025 and the order taking cognizance dated 23.08.2025.
The FIR was lodged on 27.05.2025 following a complaint alleging large-scale financial irregularities in Jila Sahakari Bank, Sankargarh/Kusmi Branch. An internal investigation and statutory audit reportedly found irregularities amounting to approximately ₹213.14 crores. A subsequent special audit indicated alleged financial irregularities of approximately ₹226 crores involving twelve named accused persons who allegedly opened fake bank accounts and transferred Kisan Credit Card funds of farmers. Certain amounts were transferred to various accounts, including the petitioner’s firm, M/s Jamuna Alankar Mandir. It was alleged that a co-accused bank employee transferred approximately ₹21.8 crores between 2018 and 2022 to the petitioner’s firm.
The petitioner, a gold merchant running a GST-registered jewellery business, contended that the co-accused and his wife were regular customers who purchased jewellery through lawful banking channels. All transactions were stated to be B2C transactions supported by GST invoices, bank statements, and statutory filings. The petitioner argued that even if the prosecution story was accepted in entirety, no offence was made out. It was contended that the essential ingredients of the alleged offences were absent, no wrongful gain was derived, and no conspiracy was established. The petitioner relied on Supreme Court judgments to submit that continuation of proceedings would amount to abuse of process.
Want to Read the Complete Judgment?
You have read the free case summary. Unlock the full judgment, the detailed judicial reasoning and the downloadable PDF, along with every other premium judgment on TaxGuru.
Already subscribed? Log in
One subscription covers the entire premium judgment library, not just this case.
