Supreme Court Quashes FIR Against GPA Holder in Civil Land Dispute

The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a general-power-of-attorney (GPA) holder in a case arising from a civil land dispute in Karnataka. A Division Bench led by Justice Satish Chandra Sharma held that since the FIR against the original landowners had already been quashed, proceedings against the GPA holder—who was a confirming party to a subsequent sale—could not be sustained.

The dispute stemmed from a 4-acre property at Channasandra Village. After the owner's death, heirs sold the land through a GPA arrangement first in 2012, then to another buyer in 2012. The prospective buyers failed to complete the transaction within the stipulated seven months. The land was eventually sold to another party in 2016, prompting the original buyers to file both a civil suit and criminal complaint.

The Court observed the case exemplified "casting the shadow of criminality on a pure civil dispute," noting that foundational ingredients of cheating were absent and the petitioner's culpability could not exceed that of the landowners themselves.