Supreme Court: Criminal Law Not A Tool To Settle Civil Disputes

The Supreme Court held that criminal proceedings cannot be misused to settle civil disputes or to harass opponents. The Court noted that invoking penal provisions in purely contractual or financial disputes is an abuse of process. It stressed that criminal law must address genuine offenses, not serve as a tool of vengeance. The judgment directed courts to carefully scrutinize allegations before allowing prosecution in disputes primarily civil in nature. This ruling curbs the tendency of litigants to misuse criminal complaints for personal gain, reinforces boundaries between civil and criminal jurisdictions, and ensures that penal law is not diluted or wrongly applied in commercial or personal conflicts.