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TMI Blog2001 (1) TMI 894X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 001 - - - Dated:- 18-1-2001 - K.T. THOMAS AND R.P. SETHI, JJ. S. Ganesh, P. Venugopal, P.S. Sudheer, K.J. John, Pradeep Misra, S.V. Deshpande for the Appearing Parties. JUDGMENT Sethi, J. - Leave granted. 2. Whether the family members of an employee or an ex-employee of a company can be proceeded with in a Criminal Court, convicted and sentenced for the commission of offence under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956? ("the Act") is the question of law to be determined by us in this appeal. Relying upon the judgment of this Court in Smt. Abhilash Vinodkumar Jain v. Cox Kings (India) Ltd. [1995] (3) SCC 732 it has been argued on behalf of the company that the expression "officer or employee appearing in secti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, first class, Thane on 12-4-1995. The revision petition filed by them was also dismissed by the additional sessions judge, Thane which compelled the aforesaid respondents to file writ petition in the Bombay High Court which has been allowed vide the order impugned herein. Section 630 of the Companies Act Reads : "630. Penalty for wrongful withholding of property. (1) If any officer or employee of a company ( a )wrongfully obtains possession of any property of a company; or ( b )having any such property in his possession, wrongfully withholds it or knowingly applies it to purposes other than those expressed or directed in the articles and authorised by this Act; he shall, on the comp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of his employment, wrongfully withholds possession of it after the termination of his employment. It is the duty of the court to place a broad and liberal construction on the provision in furtherance of the object and purpose of the legislation which would suppress the mischief and advance the remedy. Section 630 of the Act which makes the wrongful withholding of any property of a company by an officer or employee of the company a penal offence, is typical of the economy of language which is characteristic of the draughtsman of the Act. The section is in two parts, Sub-section (1) by clauses ( a ) and ( b ) creates two distinct and separate offences. First of these is the one contemplated by clause ( a ), namely, where an officer or empl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... therefore no warrant to give a restrictive meaning to the term officer or employee appearing in sub-section (1) of section 630 of the Act. It is quite evident that clauses ( a ) and ( b ) are separated by the word or and therefore are clearly disjunctive. 5. Again, this Court in Amritlal Chum v. Devoprasad Dutta Roy [1988] (2) SCC 269] (Three Judge Bench), Atul Mathur v. Atul Kalra [1989 (4) SCC 514], Gokak Patel Vokart Ltd. v. Dundayya Gurushiddaiah Hiremath [1991] (2) SCC 141, interpreted the position of law and approved the dictum of this Court in Baldev Krishna Sahi s case ( supra ). In Abhilash Vinodkumar Jain s case ( supra ) this Court was concerned with the prosecution of the legal representatives of the dec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the property of the company actionable under section 630 of the Act. The argument of the learned counsel for the appellants that since the provisions of section 630 of the Act are penal in nature the same must be strictly construed and, the parties which have not been expressly included by the legislature in section 630(1) of the Act, cannot by any interpretative extension be included in the said provision, ignores the situation that by a deeming fiction, the legal representatives or heirs of a past employee or officer, in occupation of the property of the company, would continue to enjoy the personality and status of the employee or the officer only. . . ." (p. 738) 6. This Court further held that section 630 is intended to provide sp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s applicable in the case. The penal law cannot be interpreted in a manner to cover with in its ambit such persons who are left out by the Legislature. The position of the legal heirs of the deceased employee cannot be equated with the family members of an erstwhile employee against whom, admittedly, the criminal prosecution is launched and pending. In criminal cases, the law which entails conviction and sentence, liberal construction, with the aid of assumption, presumption and implications cannot be resorted to for the purpose of roping in the criminal prosecution, such persons who are otherwise not intended to be prosecuted or dealt with by Criminal Court. Accepting the contention of the appellant would amount to the violation of fundamen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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