MULKI SURYANARAYANRAO RAU Vs. GURUSHANT GANGADHAR KAMBLE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two writ petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, involve common questions of facts and law and, therefore, were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

(2.) Respondent No. 1 - Gurushant Gangadhar Kamble, Assistant Collector, Central Excise (Preventive), with his Headquarters at Pune (hereinafter referred to as "the complainant"), in both the petitions, filed Criminal Case No. 9 of 1986 in the Court of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pune, against M/s. Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., a limited company having their head office at Udyog Bhavan, Tilak Road, Hirabaug, Pune-2 (hereinafter referred to as "the Company") and M/s. Kirloskar Proprietary Limited, Karve road, Kothrud, Pune-29 (hereinafter referred to as "accused No. 31) and 35 persons, charging them for offences punishable under Sections 9(1)(b), (bb), (c) and (d) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), read with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code. Petitioner No. 1 Mulki Suryanarayanrao Rau and Petitioner No. 2 Ramchandra Vyankatesh Deshpande in Criminal Writ Petition No. 1014 of 1986 are the original accused Nos. 8 and 9 respectively and petitioner No. 1 Vinayak Narayan Datye and Petitioner No. 2 Kalambettu Subraya Bhat in Criminal Writ Petition No. 1066 of 1986 are the original accused Nos. 10 and 28 respectively. These four Petitioners shall hereinafter be referred to as "accused Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 28".

(3.) By these petitions accused Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 28 seek to quash the process issued against them by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pune.