GOURISHANKAR MISHRA Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This arises out of an application under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petitioner by filing such application has sought for quashing of the First Information Report, being Chandrakona P.S. Case No. 128/2004 dated 1st December, 2004 under section 417/418/419/420/ 467/468/469/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code, which has been registered as G.R. Case No. 416/2004 before the learned Court of SDJM, Ghatal, District- West Midnapore.

(2.) The present petitioner along with four others, as plaintiffs, filed a suit before the learned Court of Additional District Judge of Contai, being Title Suit No. 3/2000 against K.G. George and others. The present petitioner/plaintiff No. 1 is Deputy Manager (General) of the West Bengal Region of Bethel Homely Savings Corporation and also a depositor of the Bethel Homely Savings Corporation, posted at Contai, Midnapore. The plaintiffs are interested in the trust in respect of which the said suit had been filed and they applied for leave of the learned Court under section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A Deed of Trust was executed on 15.10.1980 by K.G. George and others as trustees and by the said Trust Deed a Trust was created for public purpose of charitable nature and style of Bethel Charitable Trust. Its object is to organize, propagate and inaugurate any scheme with a view to enabling the persons belonging to the middle class and weaker sections of the society and help them to form and cultivate the habit of small savings as well as to help women and children belonging to the middle class of the society and to provide them and/or to assist them to build careers in the fields of art, commerce, medicine and technology, etc. The major business of the Bethel Homely Savings Corporation is to accept deposits from the public by way of investment of different types, i.e., daily deposit, monthly deposit or fixed deposit and to advance loans. The said Corporation for this purpose used to issue advertisement in daily newspapers and monthly magazines to solicit depositors. The plaintiff's deposits amounting to Rs. 33 crores had been accepted by the Corporation in the three regions, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Out of it, Rs. 19 crores were deposited in the West Bengal region and the same had been withdrawn by the Head Office at Rourkella without any resulting benefit for the West Bengal region by way of advance to the borrowers or otherwise in the West Bengal region. The family of the defendant No. 1, in the said suit had no other source of income and by misappropriating the income of the Trust, the defendant No. 2, being the wife of the defendant No. 1 had established a mining business in the district of Sundergarh in Orissa. Such act of misappropriation of Trust fund certainly demands removal of the trustees and appointment of new trustees particularly for the West Bengal region. By the same process of misappropriation, the defendant No. 1 and his son, defendant No. 3, had been illegally running a school by utilizing the Trust fund in Rourkella in the name and style of St. Thomas School. The trustees are guilty of mismanagement of the Bethel Homely Savings Corporation. It collected huge amount of deposits in the name of Bethel Green Growth Limited through the branches of Corporation. About Rs. 10 lakhs were collected for the said Scheme from the West Bengal region, but the Scheme has failed. Stock Exchange Board of India by a press release dated 18.11.1997 had cancelled registration and had directed the company to return the entire deposits to the depositors. A cheque issued by the Trust bounced thereby giving rise to a criminal case, being No. C/838/99 under section 420 IPC read with section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act against the defendant No. 1. In the said suit, the petitioner filed an application for injunction as well as for an order directing the defendants not to alienate or change the nature and character of the schedule property and also for an order not to disturb the functioning of the branches within West Bengal as well as other reliefs. An injunction application was filed before the learned Court of Additional District Judge, Contai and the learned Court by order dated 5.9.2000 passed an interim order till the disposal of the injunction application. Being aggrieved by the said order, an appeal has been filed before the High Court, being F.M.A.T. No. 3978/2000 and by order dated 22.2.2001, the Hon'ble Court has directed the parties to maintain status quo with regard to the properties of the Trust. Various applications have subsequently been filed in the pending suit. The petitioner through his employee Nabakumar Ganguly, lodged a complaint before the Contai Police Station against the defendant No. 1 of the said suit and one Chacko Mathai under section 467/468/471/420/120B of the Indian Penal Code. It was alleged that the accused persons taking advantage of the control over the management of the Ttrust properties outside West Benyal were manufacturing various false documents like fixed deposit receipts, other valuable securities receipts. The said case is under investigation after being registered as G.R. Case No. 185/2003 before the learned Court of C.J.M., Midnapore. The revisional application filed by the accused persons being C.R.R. 751/2004 was dismissed by order dated 22.12.2004 with direction upon the Investigating Officer to proceed with the investigation and to submit report in final form as expeditiously as possible.

(3.) In order to put pressure upon the petitioner for lodging the aforesaid complaint, one Sushil Maity lodged a complaint claiming to be the General Manager-cum-Chief Vigilance Officer of Bethel Homely Savings Corporation. He claimed to have been appointed by the defendant No. 2. The petitioner was arrested in connection with the said case and was, thereafter, released on bail. Chargesheet had been submitted in the said case being Contai PS. Case No. 34/2004 dated 17.02.2004 under section 408/468/471/477A/120B of the Indian Penal Code. This was followed by filing of another case by the present opposite party No. 2. He claimed to be the employee of the said Bethel Homely Savings Corporation. On the basis of his complaint relating to the self-same incident Chandrakona P.S. Case No. 46/2004 datd 01.05.2004 was started. Chargesheet was also issued in connection with the said case. The present petitioner was released on bail after being detained in connection with the said case. An application for calcellation of bail was filed, but the same was rejected by the Hon'ble Court. Thereafter, the defendant No. 2 in the said civil suit set up the opposite party No. 2 herein to lodge a complaint against the present petitioner and others over the self-same facts and transactions, being Misc. Petition No. 33/2004 before the learned SDJM, Ghatal, West Midnapore and the said complaint was also referred to police for investigation after treating the same as First Information Report under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This gave rise to Chandrakona P.S. Case No. 128/2004 dated 01.12.2004. Allegations made in the said complaint do not satisfy the ingredients of the offences under section 417/418/419/468/467/469/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code. There was nothing in the said complaint, which was not alleged earlier as against the present petitioner. Thus, cases had been filed one after another with the ulterior motive to compel the present petitioner to withdraw the civil suit. In absence of any new allegation, there could hardly be any justification for the police authority to proceed with investigation on the basis of such third complaint as after completion of investigation chargesheets had already been filed in the earlier cases. Moreover, the allegations made in such complaint are so inherently absurd that the same do not call for any investigation. In the circumstances, the present application was filed praying for quashing of the proceeding, being Chandrakona P.S. Case No. 128/2004 dated 01.12.2004 under section 417/418/419/420/467/468/469/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code.