HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 9531 of 2025 Court No. - 9 HON'BLE RAJESH SINGH CHAUHAN, J. HON'BLE AMITABH KUMAR RAI, J. Heard Dr. Sanjay Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the petitioners and Ms. Meera Tripathi, learned A.G.A. for the State-respondents. In view of the order proposed to be passed, notice to the respondent no.4 is hereby dispensed with. The writ petition has been filed with the following main prayer : "A writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari to quash the impugned First Information Report dated 29.09.2025, registered at FIR No.0544 of 2025, under Section 318(4) and 316 (5) of B.N.S., Police Station Kotwali Nagar, District Ayodhya, so far as it relates to the petitioners." At the very outset, learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners have been falsely implicated in the present case, as they have not committed any offence as alleged. He has further submitted that even if the allegations in the F.I.R. are taken at their face value, the relevant ingredients of Section 316 (5) of B.N.S. would not be attracted against the petitioners, inasmuch as petitioner no.1 is a private medical practitioner in homeopathy, whereas petitioner nos.2 and 3 are unemployed persons. Learned counsel for the petitioners has drawn the attention of this Court to Section 316(5) of B.N.S.,which reads as under : "Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with property, or with any dominion over property in his capacity of a public servant or in the way of his business as a banker, merchant, factor, broker, attorney or agent commits criminal breach of trust in respect of that property, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine." Versus Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Sanjay Kumar Singh, Shivangi Mishra Counsel for Respondent(s) : G.A. Naveen Kumar Srivastava And Others .....Petitioner(s) State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home, Civil Sectt., Lko. And Others .....Respondent(s) Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are not entrusted with the property in question in any manner whatsoever, nor do they have any dominion over the said property in their capacity as public servants or in the course of business as bankers, merchants, factors, brokers, attorneys or agents. He has further submitted that at best, the ingredients of Section 318 (4) of B.N.S. may prima facie be attracted, but such allegations can only be ascertained during the course of investigation, as the petitioners have not committed such an offence either. In Section 318(4) of B.N.S., the punishment is up to seven years, therefore, the petitioners are entitled to the benefit of the dictum of Apex Court in the case Satender Kumar Antill Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another reported in (2022)10 SCC 51. On being confronted with the aforesaid aspect, learned A.G.A. submitted that so far as the allegations against the present petitioners are concerned, as indicated in the F.I.R. and the instructions dated 09.10.2025 sent by Shri Amar Singh, Sub Inspector, Police Station Kotwali Nagar, District Ayodhya, the present petitioners have not been assigned any role under Section 316(5) of B.N.S. A copy of such instructions is kept on record. Learned A.G.A. has further submitted that investigation is ongoing, therefore, the present petitioners may co-operate in the same. Be that as it may, prima facie, the ingredients of Section 316(5) of B.N.S. are not attracted against the present petitioners, whereas the ingredients of Section 318(4) of B.N.S. appear to be attracted. Therefore, the Investigating Officer shall carefully verify the aforesaid aspect so far as the present petitioners are concerned, and the present petitioners shall not be unnecessarily harassed if they cooperate properly in the investigation. If the Investigating Officer finds that the ingredients of Section 316(5) of B.N.S. are not attracted against the present petitioners, they may be extended the benefit of the dictum of Hon'ble the Apex Court in the case of Satender Kumar Antill (Supra). The petitioners shall appear before the Investigating Officer on 16.10.2025 at 11:00 A.M. to co-operate in the investigation. The writ petition is disposed of. October 10, 2025 Mahesh CRLP No. 9531 of 2025 2 (Amitabh Kumar Rai,J.) (Rajesh Singh Chauhan,J.) Digitally signed by :- MAHESH KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench