JSW STEEL LIMITED Vs. DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 1st petitioner common in both the petitions and petitioner No.2 in Writ Petition No.11399 of 2022, a representative of the 1st petitioner in the writ petition, who will be for the sake of convenience referred to as 'either the petitioner or the Company', are before this court in the subject petitions.

(2.) Petitioner in W.P.No.7499 of 2022 seeks quashment of all proceedings including investigation or any other proceedings taken against it and its officials emanating from ECIR/09/BZ/2012 and the petitioners in W.P.No.11399 of 2022 call in question an order dtd. 11/4/2022 by which the concerned Court takes cognizance of the offences against the petitioners and issues summons. In effect both these petitions arise out of common facts and grounds except a subsequent event dtd. 11/4/2022 being called in question in the latter petition. Therefore, both these petitions are taken together and considered by this common order.

(3.) Brief facts leading to the filing of the present petitions, as projected by the prosecution, are as follows:- 1st Petitioner is a public limited company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act , 1956 ('the Act' for short) and is in the business of manufacture of steel and has plant in several locations including the one at Vijayanagar in the name and style of JSW Steel Limited. The petitioner claims to be in the ordinary course of business having entered into a contract with M/s Obulapuram Mining Company Private Limited ('OMC' for short) owned by Mr. G.Janardhana Reddy who was one of the Directors and owners of the said Company. The said contract was entered into between the OMC and the petitioner for supply of 1.5 million tons of iron ore, fines and lumps to the plant of the petitioner at Vijayanagar. The contract was signed on 16/11/2009. The petitioner claims to have made a payment of Rs.130.00 crores as advance towards the supply by way of bank transfer.