J&K High Court Quashes FIR Against Businessman in Rs 5 Crore Dubai Deal Dispute

 

Justice Sanjay Dhar says case is civil in nature, not criminal

Srinagar, Nov 8:

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed an FIR registered against businessman Mukhtar Ahmad Dar in connection with a Rs 5 crore financial dispute, ruling that the case was of a civil nature and did not amount to criminal cheating under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The order was passed by Justice Sanjay Dhar while hearing a petition filed under Section 528 of BNSS, through which Dar challenged FIR No. 228/2025 registered at Police Station Budgam.

The FIR was lodged by a Mumbai-based complainant who alleged that Dar, also a businessman operating in Dubai, induced him to pay Rs 5 crore for the purchase of two commercial shops in Dubai’s Al-Jaddaf area. The complainant claimed that Dar later sold the same properties to a third party without his consent and issued a security cheque that was later dishonoured.

 

Dar, represented by senior advocate Mr. Altaf Haqani along with Mr. Shakir Haqani and Mr. Asif Wani, argued that the dispute was purely commercial and had no criminal intent. He said that the amount in question was a loan of AED 1.65 million (around Rs 5 crore), for which a legal agreement was signed before a Magistrate in Dubai.

Dar further stated that the complainant had already initiated civil proceedings in Dubai and obtained a status quo order against his property there.

He alleged that the FIR was filed in Budgam with the “ulterior motive to malign and harass” him and to exert pressure in the civil case.

 

The complainant’s counsel, Mr. Jahangir Iqbal Ganai, Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. Suhail Mehraj, maintained that Dar’s actions showed fraudulent intent from the very beginning, as he sold the Dubai properties to another buyer soon after taking the advance payment.

The Deputy Advocate General, Mr. Bikramdeep Singh, representing the Union Territory, submitted that the allegations clearly disclosed a cognizable offence under cheating laws.

 

After examining the case record, the court observed that the document executed before the Dubai Magistrate made no mention of any property sale but clearly recorded the transaction as a loan agreement. The court noted that the complainant himself admitted to receiving a security cheque for the loan amount, which was later dishonoured.

 

“The facts and documents show that the dispute between the parties is purely civil in nature relating to recovery of loan money. The FIR appears to be an attempt to give a criminal colour to a civil dispute.”

Citing Supreme Court judgments including Madhavrao Jiwaji Rao Scindia vs. Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre and Indian Oil Corporation vs. NEPC India Ltd, the court reiterated that criminal proceedings cannot be used to settle civil or commercial disagreements.

“The impugned FIR and proceedings emanating therefrom are an abuse of the process of law,” the judge added.

 

Allowing the petition, the High Court quashed FIR No. 228/2025 registered at Police Station Budgam for the offence under Section 318(4) BNS (cheating).

The judgment, pronounced on November 8, 2025, concluded that the dispute was a matter of contractual liability, not criminal deception.

Case Title: Mukhtar Ahmad Dar vs. Union Territory of J&K & Another

Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Dhar

Date of Judgment: November 8, 2025

Court: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Srinagar Bench