The Delhi High Court has refused to quash an FIR lodged against a man accused of dishonestly inducing the public into giving donations to his NGO by using the picture and surname of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The high court said the FIR discloses commission of cognisable offences and the police has a statutory right and duty to investigate all aspects.

It said the investigation is at a nascent stage and the court, while exercising power under Section 482 of the CrPC, ought not to thwart an investigation.

“The specific allegations have been made that the petitioner is collecting donations/ funds by using the surname of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. The picture of the Hon’ble Prime Minister has also been used whereas admittedly, the petitioner’s surname is not ‘MODI’," the court said.

“The advertisements have been broadcast on YouTube and other national news channels with the picture of the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The allegations, therefore, are that the petitioner is dishonestly inducing people to deliver the property in the form of donations. The FIR, therefore, discloses commission of cognisable offences,” Justice Amit Mahajan said in an order passed last month.

The high court said when the allegations disclose commission of a cognisable offence, the court is not required to consider on merits whether the allegations make out a cognisable offence or not at the initial stage and the court has to permit the investigating agency to investigate.

It said this was not a fit case for quashing of the FIR.

An FIR was lodged against Pawan Pandey in September 2023 by the special cell of Delhi Police for the alleged offences of cheating for personation and cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property under the IPC.

The FIR was lodged on a complaint by deputy secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs alleging that the petitioner was running an NGO in the name of Modi Charitable Trust and was misrepresenting in the name of Prime Minister Modi.

It was alleged that the man was using the picture of the PM along with his own photo on news channels for deceiving the public at large which was evidenced by an advertisement broadcasting his picture along with the PM and the name of the Trust run by the petitioner.

Pandey was arrested on February 9 and was granted bail on February 26.

He sought quashing of the FIR by arguing that ‘Modi Charitable Trust’ was registered with different social objectives and that the complaint did not disclose any criminal offence.

The prosecution opposed the plea, saying the man had cheated and dishonestly induced the public by running an NGO in the prime minister’s name. It also submitted that his surname ‘Pandey’ was not in any way connected with the surname ‘Modi’.

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