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TMI Blog2004 (8) TMI 58X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Cr. P. C. These cases arose out of a series of complaint cases filed against the petitioners and others in the Court of Special Judge (Economic Offence) Ranchi. Petitioner No. 1 at the relevant time was a director (production) and petitioner No. 2 was a senior manager (finance) in the Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd. (in short "the H.E.C), Dhurwa, Ranchi. In the said complaint case allegations were made that the petitioners were responsible for deduction of tax from the salary of the employees of different sections of the H.E.C. and further they alleged to have defaulted in deduction of tax from the employees on 17 occasions and failed to deposit the same within a week. It was alleged that the petitioners were liable under section 2 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ecisions in the case of D. K. Jhaver v. State of Bihar [1996] 2 East. Cr. Cases 399 in the case of Shantunu Das v. State of Bihar [2000] 3 PLJR 134 and in the case of Bhaskar Industries Ltd. v. Bhiwania Denim and Apparels Ltd. [2001] 7 SCC 401. Mr. K. K. Jhunjhunwala, on the other hand, firstly submitted that the allegation against the petitioners are not only committing offence under the provisions of the Income-tax Act but also under section 409 of the I.P.C. Learned counsel submitted that for getting benefits of section 205 the accused person has to appear once at the first instance in response to summons and then make a prayer for appearance through lawyers. For better appreciation, I would first like to refer to section 205 of the Cr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 205 of the Cr. P.C. at length and observed: "The power referred to in section 205(1) of the Code is discretionary. Even in cases, where the provision is applicable, the Magistrate has to consider the question of dispensing with the personal appearance in reasonable manner. No hard and fast rule can be laid down for deciding the question of grant or refusal of the prayer for dispensing with the personal appearance. In petty cases, the court should be liberal in granting exemption from personal appearance but will not exercise such power in cases of serious nature, including offences involving moral turpitude. The court has to consider the nature of the allegations, conduct of the accused and the inconvenience likely to be caused to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s an undertaking to the satisfaction of the court that he would not dispute his identity as the particular accused in the case, and that a counsel on his behalf would be present in court and that he has no objection in taking evidence in his absence. This precaution is necessary for the further progress of the proceedings including examination of the witnesses." Their Lordships further observed: "The position, therefore, boils down to this: It is within the powers of a magistrate and in his judicial discretion to dispense with the personal appearance of an accused either throughout or at any particular stage of such proceedings in a summons case, if the magistrate finds that insistence of his personal presence would itself inflict enormou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e a prayer for dispensing with personal attendance and permitting him to appear by his pleader. It is well settled that no hard and fast rule can be laid down for deciding the question of grant or refusal of the prayer for dispensing with the personal appearance. It is equally well settled that the power under section 205, Cr. P. C. should not be exercised in cases of serious nature, i.e., murder, rape, dacoity, etc., including offences involving moral turpitude. The term, "moral turpitude" being a vague expression, it may have different meanings in different contexts. The term has generally been taken to mean to be a conduct contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good morals. In Black's Law Dictionary, in the area of legal ethics offenc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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