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TMI Blog1995 (6) TMI 157X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f 1992 and 1044 of 1992 respectively. In the other two cases, Crl. M.Cs. 1034 of 1992 and 1043 of 1992, proceedings in ST 324 of 1992 and ST 325 of 1992 of the same Court, relating to violation of the provisions of section 220(1) and (2) of the Act are challenged. All the cases were taken cognizance by the learned Magistrate and process was issued to the petitioner, who is alleged to be the Managing Director of Geo Ceramics (P.) Ltd. 3. Though several grounds were urged in the Crl. M.Cs., the only point which was pressed and argued before us is that the complaints are barred by the law of limitation and those should not have been taken cognizance by the learned Magistrate. 4. Section 159 makes it obligatory on the part of the company to prepare and file with the Registrar a return containing the particulars specified in Part I of Schedule V regarding the various items enumerated there- under. Section 162 deals with penalty and interpretation. Going by section 162(1) if a company fails to comply with any of the provisions contained in section 159, 160 or 161 of the Act, the company, and every officer of the company who is in default, shall be punishable with fine which may e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of section 468 of the Code of Criminal Proce- dure, 1898 which deal with limitation regarding cognizance of the offence, are pressed into service to advance the argument. On the other hand, the counsel for the respondent contended that the offences which gave rise to the complaints are 'continuing offences' and so when the provisions of the section are not complied with, offences must be held to be continuing and, therefore, section 468 is not at all applicable to the facts of the present cases and section 472 of the Code will be applicable. 7. So, we are called upon to decide the question whether the offences are continuing or not. If the offences are not continuing offences, all the complaints are barred by limitation and on the other hand, if we take the decision that the offences are continuing, there is no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that the complaints are not barred by limitation and cognizance was rightly taken by the trial court. 8. The expression 'continuing offence' is not defined in the Code. That is because the expressions which do not have a fixed connotation or a static import are very difficult to be defined. The expression 'continuing offence ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed course of conduct continues. Thus, for example, the crime of conspiracy has been held to continue as long as the conspirators engage in overt acts in furtherance of their plot, and the statute of limitation for a conspiracy generally continues to run from the time the last overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy was committed. The determination whether a given crime is a continuous offence is a matter of statutory interpretation. It has been held that the doctrine of continuing offences should be applied only in limited circumstances, since the doctrine effectively extends the statute of limitations beyond its stated term. A particular offence should not be deemed continuous unless the explicit language of the substantive criminal statute compels such a conclusion or the nature of the crime involved is such that Congress must have intended that it be treated as a continuing one." 11. A continuing offence gives rise to a continuing cause of action. What is a continuing cause of action ? Lord Lindley in Hole v. Cherd Union 1894 1 Ch 293 has expressed thus : "What is a continuing cause of action ? Speaking accurately, there is no such thing; but what is called a contin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es. This argument was accepted by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also adopted the reasoning in the decision of Deokaran Nenshi's case ( supra ). It was also held by the apex court that non-payment of the employers' contribution to the Provident Fund before the due date is a continuing offence and, therefore, the period of limitation fixed by section 468 cannot have any application. The offence will be governed by section 472 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to which, a fresh period of limitation begins to run at every moment of the crime during which the offence continues. The Supreme Court also added that the question whether a particular offence is a continuing one must necessarily depend upon the language of the statute which creates the offence, the nature of the offence and the purpose which is intended to be achieved by the statute. Failure to add employers' contribution before the due date, considering the object and purpose of the provision which is to ensure the welfare of the workers, cannot be said to be an offence which is not continuing. The Supreme Court further held where a controversy is raised as to whether an offence is of a continuing or non-c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions under section 159 came up for consideration and a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court held that the offence is complete as the default in submission of the return is made and so the offence cannot be said to be continuing in nature and held that the complaint is liable to be quashed. In Chandra Spg. Wvg. Mills v. Registrar of Companies [1990] 69 Comp. Cas. 117, a learned single Judge of the Karnataka High Court considered the question in detail and came to the conclusion that failure to submit balance sheet and profit and loss account within the prescribed time as provided under section 220 is not a continuing offence and the complaint should have been filed within the time prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure. In K.K. Mehra v. Registrar of Companies [1991] 71 Comp. Cas. 669, a learned single Judge of the Delhi High Court dealt with the provisions of sections 159 and 220 of the Act and held that the offences under the above sections are not continuing in nature. Similar is the view taken by the Punjab Haryana High Court in Shivalik Ice Factory v. Registrar of Companies [1988] 64 Comp. Cas. 113. 18. We have carefully gone through the judgments ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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