Supreme Court Slams Uttar Pradesh Police For Converting Civil Cases Into Criminal Matters, Says 'Complete Breakdown Of Law'

By Yashashvi Tak
Mon, 07 Apr 2025 04:21 PM (IST)

Source:JND

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Uttar Pradesh police for over frequent petitions to convert civil cases into criminal cases and said that the pleas are wrong and a sign of a "complete breakdown of the rule of law."

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna warned that the court would impose costs on the police if similar petitions were filed in the future. The court also paused criminal prosecution in a case and directed Uttar Pradesh Police Chief Prashant Kumar and the investigating officer to submit a response within two weeks.

The Chief Justice remarked that lawyers in Uttar Pradesh had forgotten about civil jurisdiction.

The case in question involved a cheque bounce issue, where the police had issued a summons and filed a chargesheet after converting the civil suit into a criminal case. The petitioner approached the court, alleging that the police had taken bribes to convert the case into a criminal matter.

"This is wrong, what is happening in UP. Every day, civil suits are being converted into criminal cases. It's absurd—simply not paying money cannot be turned into an offence. I will ask the Investigation Officer (IO) to come to the witness box. Let the IO stand there and present the case of crime. We direct this; let him learn his lesson. This is not how you file chargesheets," the Chief Justice said. He added, "It is strange that this is happening day in and day out in Uttar Pradesh."

This is not the first time the Chief Justice has raised concerns about the growing trend of converting civil cases into criminal ones. In December last year, he had remarked that this practice was "rampant" in some states. He emphasised that frequently converting civil cases into criminal matters overloaded the judiciary with cases that could be handled by civil jurisdiction.