Failure to Pay Balance Sale Consideration Cannot by Itself Constitute Cheating: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has held that merely failing to pay the remaining sale consideration under an agreement to sell does not, by itself, amount to the criminal offence of cheating. The Court made it clear that for an allegation under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to succeed, there must be evidence of fraudulent or dishonest intention at the very beginning of the transaction. Justice Alok Kumar…