Sabyasachi Mukherjee Vs Central Bureau of Investigation (Calcutta High Court)
The petition was filed before the Calcutta High Court challenging an order dated 16 January 2018 passed by the CBI Court, Alipore, in a pending criminal case. By the impugned order, the trial court had rejected the petitioner’s application for discharge under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, while allowing discharge of one co-accused. The petitioner, an advocate by profession, sought quashing of the proceedings insofar as he was concerned.
The petitioner was an empanelled advocate of Vijaya Bank and had been assigned the task of legal scrutiny of title documents in relation to a housing loan of ₹10 lakhs sought by a borrower for purchase of a flat. His role was confined to examining the title, marketability of ownership, and existence of prior charges based on documents forwarded by the bank. After scrutinising certified copies of a partition decree, mutation records, municipal tax receipts, building plan documents, and the agreement for sale, and after conducting a search for prior charges for the relevant period, the petitioner submitted a legal scrutiny report on 24 December 2005 stating that the title was marketable and free from encumbrances. Based on this report, the bank sanctioned and disbursed the loan.
