FEDERAL BANK LIMITED, ALUVA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners, who are the accused in Crime No. 547 of 2006 of Olloor Police Station for offences under Sections 409, 418, 420, 143 & 149 of the Indian Penal Code, by this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seek an order to quash Annexure A1 First Information Report (FIR) with a plea that the petitioners were falsely implicated and that the offences alleged in the FIR are not made out and that the investigation consequent to Annexure A1 is an abuse of the process. The brief facts of the case is that the petitioners are the Chairman, Deputy General Managers and some of the officers of the Federal Bank Limited. The second respondent, who was a business man, had the following accounts with the Bank:

(2.) The second respondent filed Annexure A3 complaint on 17.10.2006 before the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class-III, Thrissur, with an allegation that he had remitted a sum of Rs. 10,00,56,008/- in A/c. No. 116 for clearing the liabilities. Out of that amount, without the consent or knowledge of the second respondent, a sum of Rs. 4,58,18,085.04 was transferred by the petitioners to the account of AC Care Motor Private Limited for which the second respondent had no control and that the said Company was on the verge of liquidation and knowing that the liquidation process was in progress, the amount was transferred with the intention to cause wrongful loss to the second respondent by selling the properties hypothicated in A/c. No. 116 and that it was done so by the petitioners in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and that their action amounted to the above mentioned offences and the offences were committed at the house of the 2nd respondent at Ollur. The learned magistrate forwarded the complaint to the Station House Officer, Olloor Police Station, under Section 156(3) of the Code of the Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) basing upon which Annexure A1 FIR was registered.

(3.) According to the petitioners, a similar complaint was filed on 20.9.2006 before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thrissur, alleging that the offences were committed by the petitioners at their office at Sakthan Thampuran Nagar, which is within the limits of the East Police Station, Thrissur. Annexure A2 is the complaint. The learned magistrate posted the complaint for enquiry under Section 202 Cr.P.C. It is suppressing that fact, Annexure A3 complaint was filed and later Annexure A2 complaint was allowed to be dismissed by Annexure A4 order dated 2.11.2006 since the second respondent remained absent from court. As stated earlier, Annexure A3 complaint was filed on 17.10.2006 as if the offence alleged occurred at the house of the second respondent which is within the territorial limits of the Olloor Police Station. Basing upon Annexure A2 and A4, the petitioner would contend that the second respondent had been forum shopping by filing complaint from one court to another with identical plea and asserting separate jurisdiction. The petitioners would further contend that the complaint itself is an attempt to see whether the second respondent could stall the proceedings initiated by the Bank under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 1982 (SARFAESI) for recovery of debt and that when the Bank initiated proceedings for recovery, the 2nd respondent and other related persons moved this Court invoking jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and obtained various relief's on conditions and the 2nd respondent and others failed to comply with the conditions imposed by this Court in Annexure A6 judgment in W.P.(C) 16939/2005, W.A. 1449/2005, W.P.(C) 19945/2006 and W.P.(C) 20483/2006 and that the allegations made in Annxures A2 and A3 complaints were never raised before this Court in the writ proceedings. Annexures A6 and A14 are the copies of the judgments in W.P.(C) 16939/2005 and W.P.(C) 19945/2006 dated 10.6.2005 and 4.8.2006. Annexures A8 and A11 are the copies of the orders dated 19.7.2005 and 13.6.2006 respectively in W.A. 1449/2005. Annexure A10 is the copy of the affidavit in W.A. 1449/2005 and Annexure A12 is the copy of the affidavit filed by the second respondent in W.A. 1449/2005. Annexure A15 is the copy of W.P.(C) 24831/2006.