Meghalaya HC Quashes FIR Against Santiago Martin, Cites Lack of Evidence and Legal Basis

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The High Court of Meghalaya has quashed an FIR filed against Santiago Martin of Coimbatore and Subbayan Nagarajan of Kolkata, both associated with the lottery business. The FIR was lodged by the Director of Meghalaya State Lottery, alleging that the two individuals had attempted to disrupt the operations of the Meghalaya State Lottery.

As reported by The Shillong Times, Justice B Bhattacharjee, who heard the case, noted that the FIR failed to establish any prima facie case under the sections of the Indian Penal Code invoked, which included criminal breach of trust, cheating, mischief, defamation, and criminal intimidation. The court described the allegations as lacking clarity and legal substance.

The FIR accused the petitioners of spreading misinformation and using threats to discourage stockists and sub-stockists associated with the Meghalaya Lottery, allegedly to protect their interests in the Sikkim and Nagaland lottery markets. The FIR also stated that these actions led to a financial loss of ₹1,500 crore to the Meghalaya government.

However, the court observed that the date of the alleged incident, March 28, 2022—was prior to the appointment of the official distributors for the Meghalaya Lottery, which took place in August and September 2022. The court concluded that in the absence of appointed distributors at that time, the presence of stockists or sub-stockists could not be assumed, making the claims inconsistent.

The court further noted that available data did not support the claimed loss of ₹1,500 crore. It cited calculations showing that the maximum possible turnover from lottery sales during the relevant period was around ₹57.19 crore. The court found no material evidence to support the higher figure mentioned in the FIR.

The FIR was filed in September 2023 and later transferred to the State CID in 2024. The petitioners approached the High Court after learning about the FIR, requesting it be quashed. Their counsel, KN Choudhury, argued that the complaint lacked credibility and that the charges, even if assumed to be true, did not meet the criteria for the offences listed.

The court also noted procedural delays in the investigation and concluded that continuing with the case would not serve the interests of justice. It ruled that there was no evidence of coercion, damage to property, or inducement that would support the charges.

In its order, the court stated that continuation of the investigation in the present case would not be appropriate given the facts and circumstances, and therefore quashed the FIR.

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