| ASPECTS | DETAILS |
| Case Title | Gagan Banga & Another vs. The State of West Bengal & Others |
| Introduction | The writ petition was filed by Gagan Banga and Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, challenging FIRs related to civil disputes. |
| Factual Background | Multiple FIRs were lodged in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, and were initiated by defaulting borrowers to harass the petitioners by giving civil disputes a criminal color. |
| Legal Issues |
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| Applicable Law |
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| Analysis | The Court acknowledged that criminal law should not be misused to resolve civil matters. It stressed the need for natural justice while providing interim protection. |
| Conclusion | The Supreme Court allowed petitioners to approach the High Courts to challenge FIRs and modified its earlier order to prevent coercive actions against petitioners. |
| Current Scenario | Petitioners have been granted interim protection until High Courts (Allahabad, Delhi, Calcutta) decide on the merits of the FIRs filed against them. |
CASE SUMMARY – In this case, the petitioners sought relief from multiple FIRs filed across states, which they argued were misuse of criminal law for civil disputes. The Supreme Court granted them interim protection and allowed the FIRs to be challenged in the respective High Courts. It emphasized that criminal law should not be used to settle civil matters and modified its earlier order to extend interim protection until the filing of petitions in the High Courts. The ruling protects financial institutions from harassment by defaulting borrowers using criminal complaints.
SOURCE – SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
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