The Supreme Court set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had quashed the CBI investigation and criminal proceedings against M/s Narayan Niryat India Pvt. Ltd. and its directors in an alleged ₹110-crore bank fraud case.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi held that the High Court erred in quashing the FIR and charge sheet filed by the CBI on grounds of lack of State consent under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 and insufficiency of evidence. The Court clarified that such objections must be raised at the outset of the investigation and cannot invalidate proceedings once a charge sheet has been filed and cognizance taken by a competent court.
Observing that the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction by evaluating the merits of the allegations as if sitting in trial, the Bench restored the proceedings pending before the XXVII Additional Sessions Judge, Indore, and directed the trial to continue in accordance with law.
The Court further stated that if, during trial, a prima facie case emerges against any bank officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or other penal provisions, the trial court would be free to summon them as well.
The respondents have been directed to appear before the trial court on October 28, 2025, to furnish bail bonds. The Court also vacated earlier interim orders attaching the personal and family assets of the company’s managing director and director.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Suryaprakash V Raju, A.S.G.; Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR; Mr. Zoheb Hussain, Adv.; Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv.; Mr. Hitarth Raja, Adv.; Mr. Shaurya Sarin, Adv.; Mr. Adibi Andley, Adv.; Mr. Samrat Goswami, Adv.; Mr. Aryansh Shukla, Adv.; Mr. Agrima Singh,Adv.; Mr. Satyarth Singh, Adv.; Mr. Tejaswani Upadhyay, Adv.; Mr. Pranjal Tripathi, Adv.; Ms. Kanu Agarwal, Adv.
For Respondent(s): Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr.Adv.; Mr. Rohit Pandey, Adv.; Ms. Sadhana Sandhu, AOR; Mr. Adhyayan Gupta, Adv.; Ms. Ashtha Srivastav, Adv.; Ms. Urja Pandey, Adv.; Mr. Mihir Joshi, Adv.; Ms. Shraddha Tiwari, Adv.
