SANJIV GOGOI Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal petition is preferred under Section 482, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ('the Code' and/or 'the CrPC', for short) seeking quashing and setting aside of the criminal proceeding of complaint case, C.R. Case no. 52/2014, presently pending before the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Margherita ('the trial court', for short) and the order dated 10.07.2014 whereby the learned trial court taking cognizance of the offences punishable under Sections 420/34, Indian Penal Code (IPC), had issued process against the petitioner.

(2.) Heard Mr. T.J. Mahanta, learned Senior counsel for the petitioner and Ms. S. Jahan, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent no. 1, State of Assam. None has appeared for the respondent no. 2-complainant today on call, though notice is found to be duly served on respondent no. 2 and the name of the learned counsel for the respondent no. 2 has appeared in the cause-list.

(3.) Mr. Mahanta, learned Senior counsel for the petitioner has submitted that though the petitioner has been arraigned as an accused by name but, in essence, the allegations are leveled in his capacity as a Director of M/s Sanjeeb Tea Industries (P) Ltd. in the complaint case, C.R. Case No. 52/2014, without arraigning the company viz. M/s Sanjeeb Tea Industries (P) Ltd. as an accused. He has further submitted that if the complaint is read as a whole and even if the allegations made therein are accepted at face value no ingredients constituting the offence of cheating can be said to be present. As only the petitioner (hereinafter also referred to as 'the accused', at places, for easy reference) has been arraigned as an accused, there could not have been any cognizance of the offence under Section 34, IPC. He has further submitted that the learned trial court did not follow the procedure prescribed under Section 202, CrPC before taking cognizance of the offences and issuing process against the petitioner as an accused when the petitioner is not a resident of the area of jurisdiction of the learned trial court.