R/CR.MA/30591/2016 ORDER DATED: 09/10/2025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR QUASHING & SET ASIDE FIR/ORDER) NO. 30591 of 2016 ========================================================== KUNAL HARSHADBHAI PATEL Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR. ========================================================== Appearance: MR HASIT DAVE(1321) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 MR PRAVIN GONDALIYA(1974) for the Respondent(s) No. 2 PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI Date : 09/10/2025 ORAL ORDER 1. Heard learned advocate for the petitioner, learned advocate for respondent No.2, and learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondent–State. 2. Submission tendered by the learned advocate for the respondent No.2 is taken on record. 3. It emerges from the record that the FIR in question, followed by the subsequent investigation against the co-accused, pertains to the offences punishable under Sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 467, 471, 477A, 120B, and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The substratum of the allegations is that Giriraj Fibers Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) had obtained a loan from Swaminarayan Co-operative Bank Ltd. and had allegedly defaulted in repayment thereof. The accused persons, including the present petitioner, were the Directors of the said Company. 4. It is noteworthy that while the present petitioner alone has approached this Court by way of the present petition seeking quashment of the FIR, the other co-accused were charge-sheeted and tried before the learned Second Judicial Magistrate First Class, Vadodara, in Criminal Case No. 369 of 2005 (Old Criminal Case R/CR.MA/30591/2016 ORDER DATED: 09/10/2025 No. 3861 of 2004). The said trial culminated in a clear and unequivocal acquittal of all co-accused. 5. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid judgment of acquittal, the State of Gujarat preferred Criminal Appeal No. 129 of 2016 before the learned Sessions Court, Vadodara. The appellate Court, after a full-fledged hearing and upon meticulous re-appreciation of the entire evidence on record, found the appeal devoid of merit and accordingly dismissed the same. Significantly, the original complainant has not preferred any appeal thereagainst. 6. If the role attributed to the present petitioner is examined vis- à-vis the role of the co-accused who stand acquitted, it becomes manifest that their positions are identical and indistinguishable. When the learned trial Court as well as the learned appellate Court, upon comprehensive analysis of the evidence, did not find any material to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt against the other Directors, subjecting the present petitioner alone to the ordeal of trial would be a manifest abuse of the process of law. 7. In view of the foregoing discussion, the petition deserves to be and is hereby ALLOWED. The impugned FIR being C.R. No. I–87 of 2004 registered with Navapura Police Station, Vadodara, together with all consequential proceedings arising therefrom, qua the present petitioner, stands quashed and set aside. 8. Rule is made absolute accordingly. Direct service is permitted. (J. C. DOSHI,J) MANISH MISHRA Original copy of this order has been signed by the Hon'ble Judge. Digitally signed by: MANISH MISHRA(HC01776), STENO GR II, at High Court of Gujarat on 09/10/2025 17:05:16