The Dangerous Trend of 'Criminalising' Civil Disputes, And Why the SC Is Alarmed

When police cloak civil cases with criminality, they move away from the rule of law to the rule of whims and power.

In a broken system, the threat of criminal prosecution seems to be a better weapon to settle the civil dispute.

(Photo: Rahul Gupta/ The Quint)

While hearing a Special Leave Petition recently, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna expressed anger and noted, "What is happening in Uttar Pradesh? Everyday civil suits are being converted to criminal cases. That’s not correct? That’s breakdown of the rule of law completely!"

The observations came during the hearing of Debu Singh and Anr v. State of Uttar Pradesh. The petitioner had approached the apex court for the quashing of an FIR on charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy. This criminal case was in addition to proceedings for dishonour of cheque under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Chief Justice Khanna, on perusing the record on 7 April, noted that it was essentially a civil transaction and had wrongfully been converted into a criminal proceeding.

The court noted that the breakdown was evident at every step and the chargesheet was bereft of any details on what was the crime committed. It also questioned the summoning order itself, as there was no crime made out.

The court also noted that the UP police had not followed the clear directions laid out in Sharif Ahmed and other v. State of UP, on the manner in which chargesheets have to be filed with specific emphasis on the contents being lucid and clear to reveal the commission of the crime and role of the accused.

Initially threatening to initiate contempt proceedings against the Investigating Officer (IO), the court at the end sought affidavits from the IO and the Deputy General of Police on why the guidelines under Sharif Ahmed and other v. State of UP. In the meantime, it stayed the criminal prosecution.

But this is far from being the first time that the Supreme Court or even the CJI has expressed anger at this trend of criminalising civil cases.

A Pattern of Misuse

In December last year, while hearing Rikhab Birani v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the CJI noted, “This is again one of those cases where a civil default/civil case is converted into a criminal one and this has to be checked very strongly.”

The trend of cloaking civil disputes with criminality is not a new trend. Courts have often noted that people attempt to use the criminal process to coerce parties to settle personal matters such as property disputes and marital issues.

Nearly 25 years ago, the Supreme Court in G Sagar Suri v. State of UP, while commenting on trend of converting civil disputes to criminal cases, noted, “Criminal proceedings are not a short cut of other remedies available in law. Before issuing process a criminal court has to exercise a great deal of caution. For the accused it is a serious matter.”

In 2009, in Mohammad Ibrahim and others v. State of Bihar, advised criminal courts to ensure that proceedings are not ensured merely to apply pressure on the accused to settle the civil dispute or to harass them due to prior enmity.

Last year, while quashing an FIR, the Supreme Court in Naresh Kumar & Anr v. State of Karnataka noted that the initiation of criminal proceedings in case of a civil dispute was nothing short of abuse of process. The same was re-iterated in January 2025, by Justice Oka in Jit Vinayak Arolkar v. State of Goa and Ors.

Arrest, Stigma and a Broken System 

Criminal prosecution, unlike civil cases, brings forth the threat of arrest and a loss of liberty and freedom. It is because of the serious infringement on a person’s right to life, that proceedings should not be initiated on a whim or without basis.

The Supreme Court in Delhi Judicial Service Association v. State of Gujarat noted, “The law enjoins the police to be scrupulously fair to the offender and the magistracy is to ensure fair investigation and fair trial to an offender. The purpose and object of magistracy and police are complementary to each other.”

However, in the same case, it noted that this was far from reality.

Criminal proceedings not only threaten life and liberty but also tarnish the reputation of the person in society. On the mere initiation of proceedings people are often removed from their employment, and get ostracised by the society in general.

Why the State’s Role Is Crucial

Even when the individual is acquitted or discharged, the taint is remains. It is also because of these grave consequences that the State, which is assumed to be impartial, is the prosecutor and not individuals who might be driven by emotions of revenge rather than justice.

But when the State fails to adhere to the ‘rule of law’, criminal proceedings instead of being based on facts and evidence are based on the power and standing of the parties in a case.

“The criminal law was set in motion without any basis. It was initiated, if one is allowed to say, on some kind of fancy or notion. The liberty and dignity of the appellant which are basic to his human rights were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, he was compelled to face cynical abhorrence. This situation invites the public law remedy for grant of compensation for violation of the fundamental right envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution. In such a situation, it springs to life with immediacy. It is because life commands self-respect and dignity.”

The Supreme Court in S. Nambi Narayanan v. Siby Mathews & Others in 2018

This leads us to the question of why does one try to use criminal proceedings to settle civil disputes. The simple answer to this is because of the complete breakdown of the justice system. Civil cases go on for years, often the case outlives the litigants. Thus, in such a broken system, the threat of criminal prosecution seems to be a better weapon to settle the civil dispute.

Be it property disputes, breach of contracts or marital issues, the threat of arrest and prosecution is often seen as the best pressure tactic.

The complete breakdown of the criminal justice system ensures that it works more on the basis of convenience and blind routine. This ensures not only the abuse of process, but wastage of resources, and overburdens an already fractured system with frivolous cases.

When the police initiate baseless proceedings or cloak civil cases with criminality, they move away from the rule of law to the rule of whims and power. Under the Rule of Whims and Powers, personal liberty and freedoms are under constant threat.

(The author is a lawyer based out of New Delhi. She was one of the founding members of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)