Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 405—Criminal breach of trust—Ingredients of—Offence of criminal breach of trust contains two ingredients: (i) entrusting any person with property, or with any dominion over property; and (ii) the person entrusted dishonestly misappropriates or converts to his own use that property to the detriment of the person who entrusted it.
[Para 20]
Section 415—Cheating—Ingredients of—Ingredients of offence under Section 415 IPC emerge from a textual reading. Firstly, to constitute cheating, a person must deceive another—Secondly, by doing so the former must induce the person so deceived to (i) deliver any property to any person; or (ii) to consent that any person shall retain any property; or (iii) intentionally induce the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived and such an act or omission must cause or be likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property—Fraudulent or dishonest intention is a pre-condition to constitute the offence of cheating.
[Paras 14 to 16]
Sections 405 & 420—Ingredients of offences of cheating and criminal breach of trust—Whether made out on the face of the complaint—Contents of complaint would have to be read in order to deduce as to whether the ingredients of offence have been duly established—Grievance of first respondent arises from the termination of his services at the hospital—Allegations indicate that there was an improper billing in respect of the surgical services which were rendered by the complainant at the hospital—Allegations in the complaint are conspicuous by the absence of any reference to the practice of any deception or dishonest intention on behalf of the appellant—No allegation that complainant was induced to deliver any property or he was deceived to do omit to do anything which he would have not done or omitted to do if he was not so deceived—No case is made out either under Section 405 IPC or 420 of IPC—At the most the allegations allude to a breach of terms of the consultancy agreement by the appellant, which is essentially in the nature of a civil dispute—Impugned order set aside—Appeal allowed.
[Paras 18, 19, 23 & 24]