DHARAMDAS B KATIRA Vs. O P BHARDWAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, who are accused in Criminal Case No. 1474/S of 1981 pending before the Metropolitan Magistrate, 23rd Court, Esplanade, Bombay, filed this petition under section 482 Criminal Procedure Code and Article 227 of the Constitution of India for quashing the proceedings against them.

(2.) The respondent No. 1 filed a complaint against the petitioners alleging that on or about 6th July, 1978 both the accused, who are husband and wife, approached him at his office and represented to him that they had contracted to purchase the import licence in the name of their firm M/s. L.D. Traders. They further represented to him that they had already paid Rs. 2,00,000/- for the purchase of a licence for importing 500 Metric Tons of Industrial Crude Palm Oil from Singapore under the said licence. They also represented to him that they had contracted with Hindustan Lever Ltd., Bombay, to sell the said stock of 500 Metric Tons of Industrial Crude Palm Oil at the rate of Rs. 6,700/- per Metric Ton. It is further alleged that the accused gave the respondent No. 1-complainant a very rosy and tempting picture of the entire transaction yielding huge net profits, and pleading their own financial difficulty they induced him to join them to put through the said transaction in a joint venture on 50% basis, that is, on the basis of sharing equally the total investment and also on the same basis to share equally the net profit. According to the respondent No. 1-complainant, on the faith of the said representations made by the petitioners-accused and upon being furnished with a copy of a letter dated 5th July ,1978 addressed by the petitioners to M/s. Veena Commercial Corporation recording the said transaction, the respondent No. 1 accepted the offer of joint venture and recorded the same in this letter dated 7th July, 1978 addressed by him to the petitioners and also paid to the petitioners a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- by Cheque No. 829657 dated 6th July, 1978 drawn in favour of their firm M/s. L.D. Traders as the respondent No. 1s 50% share of the investment already made by the petitioners. The petitioners thereupon passed a stamped receipt in favour of the firm of the respondent No. 1-complainant, namely, M/s. Bharadwaj and Company, and in that receipt it was recorded that the said sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- was received by the petitioners for the joint venture, the complainant having 50% share in the venture. It was further alleged in the complaint that the petitioners again induced the respondent No. 1-complainant on 24th July, 1978 to part with a further sum of Rs. 1,45,000/- as his further share of the investment in the said joint venture. The complainant paid the amount of Rs. 1,45,000/- by a cheque dated 24th July, 1978 drawn in favour of the petitioners firm M/s. L.D. Traders. The complainant further alleged that as per the joint venture the Industrial Crude Palm Oil was sold to Hindustan Lever Ltd., Bombay, and the petitioners earned huge net profits in the said transaction, amounting to Rs. 4,00,000/-, but they did not refund the amount of Rs. 2,45,000/- towards the investment of the complainant and further amount of profits to the extent of 50%. According to the complainant, the petitioners-accused paid him only a sum of Rs. 1,75,000 by their Cheque No. 219381 drawn on Vijaya Bank Ltd., Mandvi Branch, Bombay. It is further alleged that when demanded, the petitioners gave the complainant a false account orally but avoided to show him the detailed account maintained by them. It was further alleged in the complaint that both the petitioners acted with dishonest and fraudulent intention from the beginning of the whole deal and between 7th July, 1978 and 24th July, 1978 and dishonestly induced the complainant to part with a sum of Rs. 2,45,000/- on false representations. On those averments it was alleged that the petitioners committed offences punishable under sections 420 read with section 114 and section 406 read with section 114 Indian Penal Code. The learned Metropolitan Magistrate issued process against the petitioners for the offences under sections 420 and 406 Indian Penal Code.

(3.) The case of the petitioners-accused is that the petitioners No. 2, who is the wife of the petitioner No. 1, is the sole proprietor of M/s. L.D. Traders, a company engaged in export and import business. The respondent No. 1 complainant is the proprietor of a firm by name M/s. Bharadwaj and Co. doing the business of import and export. The respondent No. 1 is known to the petitioners, as they have in the past undertaken business ventures jointly in the month of July 1978 M/s. L.D. Traders purchased an import licence by paying a sum of Rs. 5,48,775/- from one Hind Hosiery and Woollen Mills (P) Ltd. having its place business in Ludhiana for importing 500 Metric Tons of Industrial Crude Palm Oil from Singapore. The said quantity of 500 Metric Tons was to be sold to Hindustan Lever Ltd. A firm known as M/s. Veena Commercial Corporation acted as brokers for the purchase of the said import licence. The petitioner No. 1 asked the respondent No. 1 with whom he had earlier transaction in oil, whether he would be interested in investing in the purchase of the said oil. The respondent No. 1 readily agreed and paid to the petitioners a sum of Rs. 2,45,000/- by two cheques dated 6th July, 1978 and 24th July, 1978. It was agreed that the net profits in the said transaction would be shared equally between the petitioners and the respondent No. 1. The Palm Oil was imported and sold to Hindustan Lever Ltd. The petitioners firm was due to receive in the said transaction a sum of Rs. 10,46,917.75 p. The petitioners firm received Rs. 8,75,000/- only and the petitioner No. 2 filed a suit in this Court against Hind Hosiery and Woollen Mills (P) Ltd. and M/s. Veena Commercial Corporation for recovery of the balance amount of Rs. 1,71,917.75 P. plus interest.