Supreme Court: Economic Offences Involving Corruption and Loss to Public Exchequer Cannot Be Quashed Based on Settlement

The judgement authored by Justice Varale referred to the case Parbatbhai Aahir vs State of Gujarat & Anr., wherein the court observed that economic offences involving financial fraud and economic losses to the public exchequer have broader societal implications and cannot be lightly quashed.

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The Supreme Court in the case Anil Bhavarlal Jain And Anr. Versus The State Of Maharashtra And Ors. observed that the economic offences stand on a different footing than other offences and have wider ramifications.

The court in the case refused to quash the corruption case based on the settlement arrived between the accused and the bank.

The court in the case noted that the Bank has suffered a loss of approximately Rs. 6.13 Crores.

The court ruled that the settlement terms recorded by the parties at the DRT proceedings cannot erase the offence committed by the person.

The court observed that, 'In the instance case, it being on record that consent terms were submitted by the parties before the DRT. It is admitted that the bank had suffered losses to the tune of Rs. 6.13 Crores approximately. Hence, a substantial injury was caused to the public exchequer and consequently it can be said that public interest has been hampered. Keeping in view the fact that in the present case a special statute i.e. PC (Prevention of Corruption) Act has been invoked, this court is of the view that quashing of offences under the said Act would have a grave and substantial impact not just on the parties involved, but also on the society at large.'