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TMI Blog1983 (5) TMI 206X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efault under section 421, Companies Act. 1. 778/81 1875/77 1-7-67 to 31-12-67 2. 747/81 1881/77 1-1-68 to 30-6-68 3. (CR) 93/81 1833/77 1-7-68 to 31-12-68 4. 779/81 1876/77 1-1-69 to 30-6-69 5. 751/81 1873/77 1-7-69 to 31-12-69 6. 726/81 1830/77 1-1-70 to 30-6-70 7. 756/81 1831/77 1-7-70 to 31-12-70 8. 755/81 1832/77 1-1-71 to 30-6-71 9. 748/81 1877/77 1-7-71 to 31-12-71 10. (CR) 26/81 2830/77 1-1-72 to 30-6-72 11. 780/81 1882/77 1-7-72 to 31-12-72 12. 749/81 1872/77 1-1-73 to 30-6-73 13. 754/81 1879/77 1-7-73 to 31-12-73 14. 634/81 1878/77 1-1-74 to 30-6-74 15. 746/81 1871/77 1-7-74 to 31-12-74 16. 753/81 1870/77 1-1-75 to 30-6-75 17. 752/81 1880/77 1-7-75 to 31-12-75 18. 725/81 1834/77 1-1-76 to 30-6-76 19. 750/81 1869/77 1-7-76 to 31-12-76 The periods of half-yearly defaults run from July 1, 1967, to the period ending December 31, 1976. The two applicants-accused and one Madanlal Kimti (now deceased) were the duly appointed receivers of M/s. Gwalior Maize Products Co. Ltd., Mandsour. The non-applicant, viz., Registrar of Companies, filed 19 complaints in th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntions, one contending for the clear applicability of section 468(2)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the other, repelling the same and invoking instead section 472 ibid. The sole point for consideration is whether the failure of the receivers, while in possession of the property, to file the abstract, as required under section 421 of the Companies Act, once in every half year, is a continuing offence or, the offence for every particular half year is complete once and for all on their failure to file the abstract for the particular half year within the prescribed time. I have considered the arguments on both sides in the light of the case-law cited. No decision cited is found to relate specifically to the offence punishable under section 423 of the Companies Act, with which alone I am presently concerned. Some of the rulings cited deal with the distinction between "offence which takes place when an act or omission is committed once and for all" and "a continuing offence". All such old rulings of some of the High Courts, as have been cited, are rendered otiose, and need no reference in view of what the Supreme Court has observed in this regard in State of Bihar v. Deokaran N ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which is committed once and for all. It is one of those offences which arises out of failure to obey or comply with a rule or its requirement and which involves a penalty, the liability for which continues until the rule or its requirement is obeyed or complied with. On every occasion that such disobedience or non-compliance occurs or recurs, there is the offence committed. The distinction between the two kinds of offences is between an act or omission which constitutes an offence once and for all and an act or omission which continues and, therefore, constitutes a fresh offence every time or occasion on which it continues. In the case of a continuing offence, there is thus the ingredient of continuance of the offence which is absent in the case of an offence which takes place when an act or omission is committed once and for all." A few illustrated cases have also been discussed therein for helping to bring out the distinction between the two types of offences; and in the light of the same, the offence under section 66 of the Mines Act, 1952, read with regulation 3 has been succinctly considered. In this Supreme Court case, the owners of a stone-quarry had failed to furnish to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... held to be illegal. In State of Orissa v. Duriodhan Parita [1981] Crl LJ 1671, the Orissa High Court, dealing with the offence under section 14(2) of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, has held that the failure to deposit the contribution of provident fund relating to the period from September, 1975, to November, 1975, was not a continuing offence and the offence was complete on the date of failure, necessitating the filing of the complaint within the prescribed time only. In Channabasappa v. State of Karnataka [1979] Crl LJ 185, the Karnataka High Court has held that the non-payment of quarterly vehicle tax under section 12(1) of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Act was not a continuing offence and, therefore, the prosecution launched after the prescribed period was barred by time. In John Joseph v. State of Maharashtra [1979] Crl LJ 1150, the Bombay High Court, dealing with the offence under section 18(1) of the Bombay Rent Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, has held that receiving of premium or other like sum in contravention of the said Act was an offence, relatable to the date of receipt only, and as such, the offence was comple ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 976] MPLJ 559. It is, thus, clear that only in Criminal Case No. 1869 of 1977, for the period from July 1, 1976, to December 31, 1976, cognizance of the offence under section 423 read with section 421 of the Companies Act, 1956, is found to be rightly taken by the trial court within six months of the commission of the offence, in accordance with section 468(2)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the trial court is found to have acted erroneously in taking cognizance of the said offence in the rest of the 18 cases.
In the result, the present Miscellaneous Petition No. 778 of 1981 and the connected ones, viz., Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 747 of 1981, 779 of 1981, 751 of 1981, 726 of 1981, 756 of 1981, 755 of 1981, 748 of 1981, 780 of 1981, 749 of 1981, 754 of 1981, 634 of 1981, 746 of 1981, 753 of 1981 and 752 of 1981 and Criminal Revision Nos. 26 of 1981 and 93 of 1981 are allowed. Cognizance of the offences as taken in all these cases is quashed ; and the applicants-accused are, accordingly, discharged.
However, Miscellaneous Case No. 750 of 1981 is alone dismissed ; and the impugned order passed by the trial court in Criminal Case No. 1869 of 1977 is maintained. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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