Jharkhand High Court Quashes Cheating Case Against Two Officials in Anganwadi Construction Dispute

News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 111 | 2026:JHHC:683

January 16, 2026 : The High Court of Jharkhand has quashed criminal proceedings against two government officials accused of cheating and criminal breach of trust in connection with the construction of an Anganwadi centre in Dhanbad district.

Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary, in a common judgment delivered on January 12, 2026, allowed two criminal miscellaneous petitions filed by Krishna Kumar Marandi, then Circle Officer of Nirsa, and Kalidas Munda, then Block Development Officer of Kaliasol. The Court set aside the entire criminal case pending against them, including the summoning order passed by a Judicial Magistrate in April 2019.

The case stemmed from allegations that the officials, acting in concert with others, facilitated the construction of an Anganwadi centre at Kara Patthar, Rai Tola, at a location different from the one originally identified by villagers. It was alleged that the building was constructed near a school without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the local residents, instead of on the earmarked plot in Kharapathar village.

The Judicial Magistrate had earlier found a prima facie case under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Challenging this, the petitioners approached the High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking quashing of the proceedings.

After hearing both sides, the High Court held that the essential ingredients of the alleged offences were missing. The Court noted that there was no allegation that any property or money had been entrusted to the petitioners, which is a mandatory requirement for invoking Section 406 IPC. In the absence of entrustment and dishonest misappropriation, the offence of criminal breach of trust could not be sustained.

Similarly, the Court found that the allegations did not disclose any act of deception or inducement by the petitioners that caused any person to part with property, which is a core element of the offence of cheating under Section 420 IPC. Even if the allegations were accepted in full, the Court observed, they did not establish criminal intent at the inception of the transaction.

Justice Choudhary also relied on settled Supreme Court precedents clarifying that offences under Sections 406 and 420 IPC are distinct and cannot be mechanically invoked without satisfying their specific legal ingredients.

Holding that the continuation of the criminal case would amount to an abuse of the process of law, the High Court quashed the proceedings in C.P. Case No. 2800 of 2018 insofar as the two petitioners were concerned. The criminal miscellaneous petitions were accordingly allowed.

Case Reference : Cr.M.P. No. 1776 of 2020, Krishna Kumar Marandi @ Krishna Marandi vs. State of Jharkhand & Another, along with Cr.M.P. No. 2713 of 2019, Kalidas Munda vs. State of Jharkhand; Counsels for the Petitioners: Mr. Manoj Kr. No. 3, Mr. Ashok Kumar and Mr. Pratyush, Advocates; for the State: Ms. Nehala Sharmin, Special P.P. and Mr. Tarun Kumar, Additional P.P.; for Opposite Party No. 2: Mr. Sheo Kr. Singh, Mr. R.N. Chatterjee, Ms. Diksha Rani and Mr. N. Khan, Advocates.