IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA 244 Ramanjit Singh State of Punjab and CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE Present :- Mr. Mr. Damanbir Singh Sobti, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. Mohit Kapoor, Sr.DAG, Punjab. Mr. P.S. Ahluwalia, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Bhavi Kapur, Advocate for respondent No.2. VINOD S. BHARDWAJ The instant petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 (now Section 528 of the Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) for seeking quashing of FIR No.0114 dated 02.06.2017 registered under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468 Police Station Sohana, District SAS Nagar. 2. It remains undisputed that cancellation report in the present case, however, the said cancellation report was not accepted by the Illaqa Magistrate the matter, thus 01.03.2019. 3. The matter came up for hearing on 21.03.2022, when the following order was passed: “Learned counsel for the petitioner s cancellation report was presented before the Illaqua Magistrate, IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CRM-M-11765 Date of decision: Ramanjit Singh VERSUS State of Punjab and another HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD S. BHARDWAJ Mr. Karan Walia, Advocate for Mr. Damanbir Singh Sobti, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. Mohit Kapoor, Sr.DAG, Punjab. Mr. P.S. Ahluwalia, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Bhavi Kapur, Advocate for respondent No.2. ***** VINOD S. BHARDWAJ, J. (Oral) The instant petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 (now Section 528 of the Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) for seeking quashing of FIR No.0114 dated 02.06.2017 registered under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468 Police Station Sohana, District SAS Nagar. t remains undisputed that, upon investigation, cancellation report in the present case, however, the said cancellation report was not accepted by the Illaqa Magistrate and he directed prompting the filing of the present petition vide order dated The matter came up for hearing on 21.03.2022, when the following order was passed:- “Learned counsel for the petitioner s cancellation report was presented before the Illaqua Magistrate, IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 11765-2022 (O&M) Date of decision: 23.01.2026 ...Petitioner ...Respondents VINOD S. BHARDWAJ Mr. Damanbir Singh Sobti, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Mohit Kapoor, Sr.DAG, Punjab. Mr. P.S. Ahluwalia, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Bhavi Kapur, Advocate for respondent No.2. . The instant petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 (now Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) for seeking quashing of FIR No.0114 dated 02.06.2017 registered under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 & 120-B IPC at , upon investigation, the police filed a cancellation report in the present case, however, the said cancellation report and he directed a re-investigation into filing of the present petition vide order dated The matter came up for hearing on 21.03.2022, when the “Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that once a cancellation report was presented before the Illaqua Magistrate, SUMIT SINGH GUSAIN 2026.02.03 15:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 2 244 CRM-M-11765-2022 (O&M) the scope with the Illaqua Magistrate was only to direct for further investigation and not for re-investigation. Notice of motion for 08.08.2022. In the meantime, the trial Court is directed to adjourn the case beyond the date fixed before this Court.” 4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No.2 fairly concedes that he would not dispute the argument noticed by this Court in its order dated 21.03.2022 to the effect that the scope of power vested with the Magistrate was only to direct further investigation and not re-investigation. He further submits that the said order however is not a subject matter of challenge in the present petition. 5. In view of the above position, the merits need not be gone into any further. Considering that the police had already moved a cancellation report in the present case in which re-investigation had been directed by the Illaqa Magistrate, I am of the opinion that the development i.e. in the form of filing of a cancellation report renders the present petition liable to be disposed of as having been rendered infructuous at this stage to the extent of prayer for quashing of the FIR. 6. The grievance thus would survive only to the extent of direction issued by the Illaqa Magistrate for re-investigation. The respondent does not contest or dispute the order being liable to be set aside. The position not being disputed that re-investigation could not be ordered, hence, the present petition is partly allowed. The order dated 01.03.2019 (Annexure P-11), appended along with the present petition returning the cancellation report with a direction to re-investigate the case is modified to be read as: “a direction for further investigation in the said case”. 6. The respondent-authorities are directed to carry out a further SUMIT SINGH GUSAIN 2026.02.03 15:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 3 244 CRM-M-11765-2022 (O&M) investigation and to submit a final report in a time-bound manner noticing that the issue pertains to the year 2017 and has vital implications on personal liberty of an individual. (VINOD S. BHARDWAJ) 23.01.2026 JUDGE Sumit Gusain Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No Whether reportable : Yes/No SUMIT SINGH GUSAIN 2026.02.03 15:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document