New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court has revived the proceedings in a cheating case against officials of a bank in Bihar for allegedly not returning gold ornaments pledged by customers as security for a loan.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra was hearing an appeal filed by the complainant, challenging a Patna High Court order passed in November 2024.
The high court allowed the petition filed by the bank officials and quashed the FIR against them in September 2023.
“It is true that the appellant (complainant) repaid the amount, but with substantial delay. However, once the loan is settled, it is difficult to understand as to why the gold was revalued and auctioned,” the apex court said.
The bench noted the high court’s findings, which were on merits, held that the complainant undertook the entire process of securing a loan from the bank with an ill-intention.
“We are at a loss to understand as to how such a conclusion was arrived at, for the settled position is that for determining intention, evidence has to be taken into account,” the bench wondered.
The complainant was stated be a businessman who secured a loan of Rs 7.70 lakh from the bank in July 2020 by pledging 254 gram of 22 carat gold ornaments as security.
The complainant alleged that he repaid the amount along with interest in March 2023 but the bank conducted a revaluation of the gold pledged by him and deducted Rs 1,500 towards fees.
He claimed his applications for returning the pledged gold were not heeded to.
The bench noted that the bank, in order to realise the money, revalued the gold and found it to be counterfeit as reported by a valuer different from the one who had originally valued it at the time of disbursing the loan.
The bank said the pledged material was not gold but gold plated on top of other metals.
The issued led to an FIR against the complainant in May 2023 and another FIR was lodged against some bank officials after the complainant filed a complaint case before a magisterial court in Muzaffarpur.
The bank officials moved the high court which quashed the FIR against them.
While dealing with the appeal, the apex court said the complainant had no access to the gold which, after its initial valuation, was always kept in the safe custody of the bankers.
“Fraud, if any, whether perpetrated at the first instance of valuation, or later, is a matter which could be unearthed only after a trial based on the evidence led by the parties,” it said.
The bench said the high court “improperly quashed” the proceedings initiated by the complainant.
“The proceedings out of the subject FIR… are revived and restored to the file of the concerned court,” the bench said and allowed the appeal. PTI ABA ABA AMK AMK
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