CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dealt a setback to Emaar India Ltd, denying its request to quash an FIR that includes allegations of cheating, fraud, and criminal conspiracy against the firm.
Justice Mandeep Pannu issued the ruling while rejecting a petition from Emaar India, which sought to dismiss an order from a Gurgaon additional chief judicial magistrate that authorized the FIR against the company and its officials.
The case arises from a complaint by Synergy Finhub LLP, which alleges that Emaar India and certain officials were involved in a “well-coordinated” scheme of deception. Central to the allegations is the assertion that Emaar India failed to disclose existing binding agreements with third parties concerning the same project land.
It is claimed that Emaar India’s subsidiaries had entered into collaboration agreements with Tejas Home Build Pvt Ltd in 2013 and Nanny Infrastructure Pvt Ltd as early as 2010. These earlier contracts were reportedly not revealed to Synergy Finhub when they signed their Joint Development Agreement (JDA). The complainant claims they were coerced into a ₹1 crore settlement with Tejas Home Build to address third-party claims.
On March 10, the Gurgaon court ordered the FIR, despite a police report suggesting that the issue was purely civil. Emaar India challenged this ruling, arguing that the magistrate overlooked the police’s finding that no cognizable offense had occurred. The defense maintained that the dispute was a contractual matter already subject to arbitration.
The High Court noted that the Gurgaon court’s order was neither illegal nor unreasonable and that the allegations presented a prima facie case requiring further investigation. Additionally, the arguments put forth by the petitioner did not meet the narrow criteria needed for quashing an FIR.
