SAJAN K VARGHESE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The four Special Leave Petitions have been filed against a common order passed by the High Court of Kerala in Criminal M.C. Nos. 49/88 and 63/88 filed respectively by the petitioners in the two sets of special leave petitions. Counter-affidavits have been filed by respondents 3 and 4.

(2.) For the sake of convenience, we will refer to the petitioner in S.L.P. Nos. 1127-28/88 as Sajan K. Varghese and the petitioner in S.L.P. Nos. .1148-49/88 as M/s. Super Film.

(3.) Sajan K. Varghese is the Managing Partner of a film producing concern M/s. Saj Productions and also a Finance Company known as the Oriental Exchange and Finance Company, Kottayam (for short the Finance Company). It would appear that the Finance Company offered very high rates of interest to investors and depositors and this led to a large number of people investing crores of rupees with the Finance Company and in the case of many, their entire savings. Taking advantage of his position as the Managing Partner of M/s. Saj Productions as well as the Finance Company, Sajan K. Vargnese began to utilise considerable sums of money from out of the deposits with the Finance Company for production of films by M/s. Saj Productions. The last film in the production of which Sajan K. Varghese engaged himself is a production titled as "Kadathanadan Ambadi". The film is said to be based on the life of a legendary hero of Kerala folk lore. The film was produced on a very lavish and extravagant scale and according to Sajan K. Varghese himself, he had invested more than 82 lakhs of rupees in the production of the incomplete film. In spite of such lavish spending only about 90% of the shooting of the film is over and the rest of the shooting has to be completed and thereafter the film has to be edited and colour prints taken for the film to be commerically screened in theatres. It is common ground that a major portion of the investment of 82 lakhs of rupees for shooting the incomplete film was met by utilisation of funds invested by the public in the Finance Company as deposits.