“Cheating” generally refers to the act of dishonestly or unfairly gaining an advantage, typically in contexts of gaming, monetary transactions, relationship or professional setting.

Cheating has been defined in Section 318 & 319 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 ( erstwhile Section 415-420 of Indian Penal Code, 1860) where there is inducement for the delivery of property and have the following essential ingredients:

1. The representation made by the accused was false;
2. The accused had prior knowledge that the representation he made was false;
3. The accused made the false representation with dishonest intention in order to deceive the person (victim) to whom it was made;
4. The act where the accused induced the person(victim) to deliver the property or to perform or to abstain from any act which the person(victim) would not have done or had otherwise committed.

Some of the normal practices of cheating which we observe in our day-to-day routine life are listed below:

Essential ingredient of offence of cheating:- A guilty intention is an essential ingredient of the offence of cheating. In other words, “means rea” on the part of the accused must be established before the accused can be convicted of the offence of cheating.  The essential ingredients of the offence are that at the time the accused made out the representations, the same was false to his knowledge, and he made that with the intention to deceive. This intention has to be gathered from the facts on record

In the matter of Mahadeo Prasad v. State of W.B. AIR 1954 SC 724, the Supreme Court has held that –“ in order to constitute an offence of cheating, the intention to deceive should be in existence at the time when the inducement was made.”

In the matter of G.V. Rao v. L.H.V. Prasad, 2000(3) SCC 693, the Supreme Court held that –“ Section 415 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 has two parts. While in the first part, the person must, ‘dishonestly’ or ‘fraudulently’ induce the complainant to deliver any property; in the second part, the person should intentionally induce the complainant to do or omit to do a thing. That is to say, in the first part inducement must be dishonest or fraudulent. In the second part, the inducement must be intentional….”

In its recent order dated November 24^th, 2025, the Supreme Court in the matter of Inder Chand Bagri vs. Jagdish Prasad Bagri & Another, it has been held that-“criminal law ought not to become a platform for initiating vindictive proceedings to settle personal scores and vendettas, as it quashed criminal proceedings for cheating and criminal breach of trust initiated by a man against his brother in a dispute concerning a partnership firm.”

While giving the said judgement, Supreme Court has relied on its judgment given in 2024 in the matter of Vishal Noble Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh and have observed that – “in recent years, the machinery of criminal justice has been misused by certain persons for their vested interests and oblique motives. Courts therefore need to remain vigilant against such tendencies and ensure that acts adversely impacting societal harmony are nipped in the bud.”

Distinction between Civil Wrong and Cheating:

In the matter of State of M.P. vs. Mohal Lal Soni, (2000) 6 SCC 338, the Supreme Court referred to several previous decisions and crystallized the judicial view that – “at the stage of framing of charge, the Court has only to prima facie consider whether there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused.”

In the matter of Indian Oil Corporation vs. NEPC India Ltd. (2006) 6 SCC 736, it was been held by the Supreme Court that- “A breach of contract does not give rise to criminal prosecution for cheating unless fraudulent or dishonest intention is shown right at the beginning.”

In the matter of Arun Bhandari vs. State of U.P., (2013) 2 SCC 801, the Supreme Court has summed up very succinctly that sometimes a case may apparently look to be of civil nature or may involve a commercial transaction but such civil disputes or commercial disputes in circumstances may also contain ingredients of criminal offences and such disputes have to be entertained notwithstanding that they are also civil disputes.

The Supreme Court in above referred judgements and in many more such cases have lamented about the growing tendency of the complaints in giving cloak of criminal offence to matters which were essentially and purely of civil flavor. The Supreme Court identified the reason for doing so as well. Such effort in only for the purposes of putting pressure on the accused or for wreaking out vengeance or settings cores or putting the accused to harassment. However, the Supreme Court was not oblivious of the fact that in many cases, arising out of civil nature, there were ingredients of criminal offences also and the same was required to be looked into and tried as criminal offence even if some part of such alleged action would fall in the domain of a civil dispute.

This article is for information purpose only and should not be taken as legal advice. To know further details, clarification, assistance or any advice on filing a criminal complaint or to defence against any criminal case or any legal issues on financial fraud, white collar crimes or criminal laws, you may connect with us at admin@equicorplegal.com  / 08448824659 and visit www.equicorplegal.com