A village panchayat that gave land for a power station ended up fighting a criminal case for nearly seven years. Now the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stepped in and shut the case down for good - and asked the man who filed it to pay for the trouble he caused.
Justice Sanjay Vashisth, hearing the matter at Chandigarh, quashed the criminal complaint and the summoning order against nine members of the Gram Panchayat of village Pilkhani in Ambala district. The court also directed the complainant, Gurdev Singh, to pay Rs 1,00,000 as costs to the panchayat.
Background of the Case
The nine petitioners had served as Sarpanch and Panches of Pilkhani village between 2016 and 2020. During their tenure, a 66 KV power sub-station was built on panchayat land to supply electricity to the village, which earlier went dark after sunset.
Gurdev Singh, a villager claiming a share in the land - described in revenue records as "mushtarka malkan" - accused the panchayat members of manipulating a sale deed and criminally conspiring with a Sub Divisional Officer of UHBVN to transfer the land fraudulently. He alleged offences under several IPC sections, including cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
He had first gone to the police, but that complaint found no substance. He then approached the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ambala, who summoned all nine panchayat members to face trial for offences under Sections 420, 419 and 120-B IPC on March 28, 2019. The petitioners then moved the High Court under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of both the complaint and the summoning order.
Court's Observations
The court traced the actual sequence of events and found nothing suspicious about it. Land measuring over 32 kanals had been allocated through a series of resolutions passed by successive panchayats between 2012 and 2014, after HVPNL identified the site for a sub-station. The Tehsildar had fixed the market value, and the sale consideration of Rs 1,01,72,500 was credited to the panchayat's own bank account, where it still sits as a fixed deposit.
The bench noted that respondent No. 2's argument did not hold up, pointing out that he had first approached the police with a complaint, and only after no substance was found there did he file the present complaint. The judge also observed that there was strong doubt whether the allegations carried any real criminality or factual basis at all.
Importantly, the court noted that nobody accused the panchayat members of pocketing any money personally, nor was there any claim that the resolutions or documents were fake or forged. If Gurdev Singh genuinely believed he had a share in the land, the judge said, the proper route was a civil court - not a criminal complaint - and he had never even challenged the sale deed there.
Referring to earlier Supreme Court rulings, the court observed that criminal prosecution must not be allowed to become a tool of harassment, private vendetta, or pressure tactics against the accused. It added that courts must stay alert against people misusing criminal law machinery for personal agendas, since such actions strain the judicial system and create division in society.
Decision
The High Court allowed the petition, quashing Complaint No. 270 of 2018 and the summoning order dated March 28, 2019, along with all consequential proceedings against the nine petitioners.
Calling the complaint frivolous and without locus, the court directed Gurdev Singh to pay Rs 1,00,000 to the Gram Panchayat of Pilkhani by October 17, 2026, failing which he would owe an additional Rs 1,000 for every day of delay. The judge said this cost was meant as a deterrent, so others also learn not to file false criminal complaints.
The court also ordered that a copy of the order be circulated among other Gram Panchayats in Punjab and Haryana, so that villages undertaking similar development work feel encouraged rather than discouraged.
Case Details
Case Title: Anju Bala and Others v. State of Haryana and Another
Case Number: CRM-M-21706-2019
Judge: Justice Sanjay Vashisth
Decision Date: 13 July 2026
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