Hand over Rs 50,000 as charity, HC tells merchant

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed a diamond merchant to hand over Rs 50,000 as a charity to Anandwan, a rehabilitation centre for leprosy patients in Chandrapur district by social worker Baba Amte. The merchant had approached the court to quash an FIR registered against him by the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police for non-payment of Rs 3 crore to another businessman from whom he had received diamonds last year.

While both the parties have settled their dispute amicably, the court held that the police and court machinery were engaged to settle their dispute and imposed the fine on the merchant.

The accused’s counsel Abhishek Yende informed the court that parties had settled their dispute and filed consent terms before the court. According to the consent terms, the applicant agreed to pay Rs 3 crore to the respondent and in return, the latter would give his consent to quash the FIR.

After perusing the consent terms, a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre observed that the parties had decided to settle their dispute in view of the earlier family ties between them.

The court, referring a Supreme Court order, held that no purpose would be served by keeping.

“At the same time, costs need to be imposed on the parties, for using the police and judicial mechanism for settling their personal disputes,” the bench noted.