SHANTI PRASAD JAIN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment will dispose of Cr.M.(M) 14 of 1970, Criminal Revisions No. 106, 113, 200, 204 and 228 of 1970 also. These are applications to quash the order of the learned Additional District Magistrate, Delhi dated 20-9-1969 committing 22 accused (out of whom I has since died) including the above petitioners to the Court of Session for all of them being tried for the offence of criminal conspiracy under section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code; the petitioners in Cr. Rev. 263 of 1970 (S. P. Jain) and Cr. Rev. 106 of 1970 (V. H. Dalmia) and Cr. Rev. 204/70 (J. Dalmia) were further charged under section 409 Indian Penal Code . The petitioners in Cr. Rev. 113 of 1970 (M.R. Jain) and in Cr. Rev. 204 of 1970 (J. Dalmia) have been further charged under sections 408 and 465/467 Indian Penal Code . respectively.

(2.) The prosecution case, in brief, is that during the period 1946 to 1953, the Dalmia Jain Group along with their co-accused and others were parties to a criminal conspiracy the object of which was to commit and/or cause to be committed criminal breach of trust in respect of funds and assets of Dalmia Jain Airways Limited (hereafter called Airways) including the funds in Current Account No. 716 (entitled "Share Application Money Account") with the Bharat Bank Limited, Darya Ganj Delhi. This object was to be accomplished by commtting or causing to be committed forgeries and making or causing to be made false entries in the books of accounts of not only the Airways, but also three other concerns known as Alien Berry & Co. Ltd. (hereafter referred to as A.B.C.) and Dalmia Cement & Pacer Marketing Co. Ltd. (hereafter called D.C.P.M.) and the Dalmia Jain Aviation (hereinafter called Aviation).

(3.) A.B.C. was originally an English company (Thomson and Thomos Wilson). On 4-1-1937 Dalmia Jain & Co. (hereafter called the Managing Agency Co.) was incorporated as a Private Limited Liability Company of which J. Dalmia (A-2) and S. P. Jain (A-3) were appointed as Directors with effect from 30-1-1937; the other Directors included V. H. Dalmia (A-4, son of J. Dalmia) and Shital Prasad Jain (A-10 brother's son of S. P. Jain, A-3). S. P. Jain is the son-in-law of R. Dalmia, D.C.P.M. was incorporated as a Private Limited Company in 1937 (as it was called after it underwent a change of name in 1938); S. P. Jain (who was its first Director), J, Dalmia (brother of R. Dalmia) and V. H. Dalmia (who became Directors later) functioned as Directors during the concerned period.