Alka Agrawal And Others Vs State of Maharashtra And Others (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered whether amounts aggregating to Rs.2.51 crore advanced by the appellants to private respondents for setting up a resort constituted a “deposit” within Section 2(c) of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 (MPID Act), and whether the recipients could constitute a “Financial Establishment” under Section 2(d). The appeal arose from the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench judgment dated 14.08.2025 dismissing Criminal Revision Application No.64 of 2024 with costs of Rs.5,00,000. The appellants claimed that respondent Nos.2 to 6 had induced them to invest money for setting up a resort at Tadoba, Maharashtra, promising interest at 24% per annum payable quarterly in advance. The amounts were paid by cheque or bank transfer and, according to the appellants, were to be repaid by 31.12.2019.
After the respondents allegedly failed to pay the promised interest and repay the principal, the appellants pursued several remedies. They issued a legal notice, approached the police, initiated proceedings concerning a dishonoured cheque and instituted summary suits for recovery. They also sought registration of an FIR for offences under Sections 420, 409 and 405 read with Section 34 of the IPC. Those proceedings were unsuccessful, with the courts treating the transaction as a loan transaction of a civil nature. The appellants thereafter invoked the MPID Act and sought registration of an FIR under Section 3. The Sessions Court rejected their application and the High Court upheld that rejection, reasoning principally that the transaction was a loan rather than a “deposit”, that respondent Nos.2 to 6 were not “financial establishments”, and that substantially similar criminal proceedings had already failed.
