Jeevan Chandra Joshi v. State of Uttarakhand

SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar's order with Signatures COURT'S OR JUDGE'S ORDERS

WPCRL/1840/2025

Jeevan Chandra Joshi --Petitioner Versus State Of Uttarakhand --Respondent

Hon'ble Alok Mahra, J.

Mr. Prabhakar Joshi, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Akshay Latwal, A.G.A. for the State of Uttarakhand.

Mr. Narendra Bali, Advocate for respondent no.4.

¶2By means of this writ petition, petitioner has sought quashing of F.I.R. No.0038 of 2025, under Section 420, 467, 468 & 471 I.P.C., registered at Police Station Someshwar, Almora.

¶3As per the averments made in the impugned F.I.R., all the accused persons were, at the relevant time, working in the Minor Irrigation Department, Government of Uttarakhand. It is alleged that they, in connivance with each other, sanctioned payment in favour of the contractor despite the alleged work not having been completed.

¶4Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that allegations levelled against the petitioner are identical in nature to those levelled against the other three accused persons, who had approached this Court by filing separate

writ petitions seeking quashing of the same F.I.R. It is submitted that the Coordinate Bench of this Court, vide order dated

18.04.2026, allowed compounding applications preferred by the said accused persons and quashed the impugned F.I.R. qua them. It is further submitted that, while passing aforesaid order, the Coordinate Bench took note of the fact that the work in respect of which the allegations were made in the F.I.R. had, in fact, been completed and was found to be up to the prescribed standard. Technical inspection of the work had also been carried out, which confirmed that the work was executed as per the prescribed specifications and standards. It is also submitted that the complainant was present before Coordinate Bench and categorically stated that he did not dispute the fact that the work in question had already been completed and was up to the mark. Taking note of these facts, the Coordinate Bench allowed the compounding applications and quashed the impugned F.I.R. qua the said accused persons.

¶5Having considered the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and upon perusal of the record, this Court finds that the allegations against the present petitioner arise out of the very same transaction and relate to the same work in respect of which the Coordinate Bench has already considered the matter in detail. It is significant that the material circumstances which formed the basis for quashing of the F.I.R. qua the co-accused are equally applicable to present petitioner. The technical inspection has found the work to have been completed and to be in accordance with the prescribed standards. Further, complainant has himself

acknowledged before Coordinate Bench that the work in question had already been completed and was up to the mark. Thus, the foundational allegation that payment was sanctioned in respect of work which had not been completed does not survive.

¶6In aforesaid circumstances, continuation of the criminal proceedings against the present petitioner, despite the same F.I.R. having already been quashed qua the co-accused on the basis of the aforesaid factual position, would not serve any fruitful purpose.

¶7Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed. F.I.R. No. 0038 of 2025, under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, registered at Police Station Someshwar, District Almora, is hereby quashed qua present petitioner.

(Alok Mahra, J.)

13.08.2026 Arpan

ARPAN JAISWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND,

2.5.4.20=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c0485365445e3a20dddb7393398 f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454C5109CB987446351E4 DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL Date: 2026.08.13 17:04:53 +05'30'