BHAGWAN DAS Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two applications have been made by certain persons who are standing their trial under Section 420, I. P. C. before a Magistrate at Bareilly. The applicants are residents of Orissa and they have a business office at Calcutta. They are the producers of certain vegetable products in the nature of vegetable ghee, etc. and the complainant entered into an agreement with them on which, according to his case, he was appointed a sole distributor of the products of the Company which is sponsored by the accused applicants, for the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Province. According to the complainant he parted with a total sum of Rs. 25,000/- by way of security to the Company sponsored by the accused and that the accused used deception in getting this money from the complainant. The complainant wanted his money back but the accused have not so far refunded the money which they took under the pretext of its being a kind of security deposit.

(2.) On 14-8-1951, the accused moved an application, through counsel, in the Court of the Magistrate for being exempted from personal appearance on the dates of hearing of the complaint. On 27-8-1951, they moved another application before the learned Magistrate under the provisions of Section 250, Criminal P. C. for quashing the complaint and for award of compensation against the complainant. The two matters before us, namely, the one, which is a revision and the other which is a miscellaneous application under Section 561A, Cr. P. C. and under Arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution, arise out of the two applications to which reference has just been made.

(3.) The application of 14-8-1951, which was for exemption of personal appearance, was rejected by the learned Magistrate by his order dated 31-8-1951. The learned Magistrate made an exceedingly short order in these words :