LexM/S BALAJI TRADERS versus THE STATE OF U.P. & ANR.
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[2025] 7 S.C.R. 364 : 2025 INSC 806 M/s Balaji Traders v. The State of U.P. & Anr. (Criminal Appeal No. 2899 of 2025) 05 June 2025 [Sanjay Karol* and Manoj Misra, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Whether the High Court was justified in observing that since no offence of extortion u/s.383 IPC is made out, consequently, no offence u/s.387 IPC would be made out. Headnotes† Penal Code, 1860 – ss.383, 387 – On 22.05.2022, when the complainant was heading towards his house, the accused, along with three unknown persons carrying rifles in their hands, stopped and threatened him to close down his business of betel nut – They further threatened that he could carry on the business only if he would pay five lakhs per month to the accused person – On the complainant’s refusal, the accused persons not only beat him but also tried to kidnap him – Complainant filed complaint u/s.200 CrPC – Trial Court found a prima facie case against the accused person and issued summons to him u/s.387 IPC – Accused person filed application u/s.482 CrPC before the High Court for quashing of summoning order – The High Court quashed the summoning order – Correctness: Held: A glance over all the Sections related to extortion would reveal a clear distinction being carried out between the actual commission of extortion and the process of putting a person in fear for the purpose of committing extortion – It can be said in terms of ss.386 (an aggravated form of 384 IPC) and 387 IPC that the former is an act in itself, whereas the latter is the process; it is a stage before committing an offence of extortion – The Legislature was mindful enough to criminalize the process by making it a distinct offence – Therefore, the commission of an offence of extortion is not sine qua non for an offence under this Section – It is safe to * Author [2025] 7 S.C.R. 365 M/s Balaji Traders v. The State of U.P. & Anr. deduce that for prosecution u/s.387 IPC, the delivery of property is not necessary – As far as quashing is concerned, it is settled that the power of quashing should be exercised sparingly with circumspection in the ‘rarest of rare cases’ and not as an ordinary rule – The reasoning adopted by the High Court is, on the face of it, flawed and misplaced – When the Legislature has created two separate offences with distinct ingredients and punishments, then assigning the essential ingredient of one to another is not a correct approach adopted by the High Court – Putting a person in fear would make an accused guilty of an offence u/s.387 IPC; it need not satisfy all the ingredients of extortion provided u/s.383 IPC – The instant case is not fit for quashing as the two essential ingredients for prosecution u/s.387 IPC have been prima facie disclosed in the complaint, (a) that the complainant has been put in fear of death by pointing a gun towards him; and (b) that it was done to pressurize him to deliver Rs.5 lakhs – Thus, the impugned order dated 28.06.2024 is set aside, and the proceedings emanating from Complaint Case are restored to the file of the Trial Court. [Paras 9, 10, 18, 25, 26, 27] Case Law Cited Tolaram Relumal v. State of Bombay [1955] 1 SCR 158 : (1954) 1 SCC 961 – followed. R.S. Nayak v. A.R. Antulay [1986] 2 SCR 621 : (1986) 2 SCC 716; B.N. John v. State of U.P., 2025 SCC OnLine SC 7; Dalip Kaur v. Jagnar Singh [2009] 10 SCR 264 : (2009) 14 SCC 696; Neeharika Infrastructure (P) Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra [2021] 4 SCR 1044 : (2021) 19 SCC 401; M. Narayanan Nambiar v. State of Kerala, 1962 SCC OnLine SC 85; R. Kalyani v. Janak C. Mehta [2008] 14 SCR 1249 : (2009) 1 SCC 516 – relied on. Dhananjay @ Dhandhanjay Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar [2007] 2 SCR 206 : (2007) 14 SCC 768; State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal [1990] Supp. 3 SCR 259 : (1992) Supp. 1 SCC 335; Inder Mohan Goswami v. State of Uttaranchal [2007] 10 SCR 847 : (2007) 12 SCC 1; Motibhai Fulabhai Patel & Co. v. R. Prasad, 1968 SCC OnLine SC310; Dilip Kumar Sharma v. State of M.P [1976] 2 SCR 289 : (1976) 1 SCC 560; Radha Ballabh v. State of U.P (1995) Supp. 3 SCC 119; Gursharan Singh v. State of Punjab [1996] Supp. 5 SCR 705 : (1996) 10 SCC 190; Somasundaram v. State [2020] 10 SCR 27 : (2020) 7 SCC 722 – referred to. 366 [2025] 7 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports Books and Periodicals Cited Merriam-Webster; Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Tenth Edition 1999. List of Acts Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. List of Keywor
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