1. The High Court in exercising its power under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (B.N.S.S.), 2023, to quash criminal proceedings, is required to examine the material facts to determine if a prima facie case is made out. Proceedings will be quashed if the allegations, even taken at their face value, do not constitute a cognizable offence or are without any evidence of the essential ingredients of the crime. 2. In cases involving the diversion of PDS (Public Distribution System) grain, the criminality of the act hinges on specific misconduct. Where the specific allegation is merely that the accused procured PDS rice at a cheaper rate for personal profit, this is not without more to constitute the offence of cheating or violation of the Essential Commodities Act. 3. For such a case to attract criminal liability under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Section 420 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (cheating), there must be a proof that the accused infected the beneficiaries with criminal intent to deceive them, or that the beneficiaries received the rice with a dishonest intention to misappropriate it to their own use, knowing that such use would be a violation of the law or a contract. 4. In the absence of a complaint by any beneficiary alleging deceptive inducement by the accused, or any evidence that the beneficiaries dishonestly misappropriated the supplied PDS rice, the ingredients of the alleged offence are not satisfied on the face of the prosecution material. 5. Consequently, continuation of criminal proceedings against the petitioner is an abuse of the process of the court. Accordingly, Criminal Petition No.14487 of 2026 is allowed, and proceedings in C.C.No.1115 of 2025 are hereby quashed.
