A.ELAMATHIYAN Vs. INSPECTOR OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Original Petition has been filed seeking to quash the FIR in Crime No.1 of 2022, on the file of the first respondent police, registered against the petitioner and others for the offences under Ss. 408, 409, 420, 465, 468, 471, and 477-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

(2.) The petitioner is arrayed as A1. There are three accused in this case. It is the case of the prosecution that the defacto complainant, the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Ramanathapuram, lodged a complaint stating that the Kiliyur Branch is under the administrative control of the Kodikulam Primary Agricultural Co-operative Society; that on 11/11/2021 and 12/11/2021, a jewel verification was conducted and, on such verification, it was found that out of 313 gold bags, 81 gold bags contained fake gold, the value of which was Rs.1,47,14,000.00; and that the said bags were under the control of one Murugesan, who was working as Assistant Secretary-cum-Manager, one Arivazhagan, who was working as Jewel Appraiser, and the petitioner, who was working as Secretary-cum-President of the said Society, and that they are jointly responsible for the loss caused to the Society.

(3.) Mr.Sricharan Rangarajan, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, submitted that pursuant to the report of the Enquiry Officer under Sec. 81 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983, surcharge proceedings were initiated against the petitioner under Sec. 87 of the Act, and the second respondent had concluded that the petitioner had neither misappropriated nor was guilty of gross negligence and, therefore, exonerated the petitioner from the surcharge proceedings; and that this Court, in several cases, has held that where the accused has been exonerated in surcharge proceedings, the prosecution cannot be sustained against the said accused, and he relied upon the orders passed by this Court.