High Court of Punjab and HaryanaCRM-M/34767/2021allowed

Harpreet Kaur v. State Of Haryana And Others

2022-09-27Mr. Justice Aman Chaudhary6 pages

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:7&9-//5,%,# "11. The respondent submitted that sub-section (2) of section 33 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 makes "other officers" liable, but that is essential liability not to the position and control of the company at the time of commission of the offence as in sub-section (1), but to the specific act of consent, connivance and negligence, which need to be met and in that sense distinguishable from sub-section (1) of section 33 of the Insecticides Act, 1968.

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14. K.P.G. Nair v. Jindal Menthol India Ltd. (2001) 10 SCC 218 was a case of this court under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and it was found that the allegations in the complaint did not either in express words or with reference to the allegations contained therein make out a case that at the time of commission of the offence the appellant was in charge of and was responsible to the company for the conduct of its business. It was held that the requirements of Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 were not met and the complaint against the accused was quashed. The same view has been taken in Katta Sujatha (Smt.) v. Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd. & Another (2002) 7 SCC 655. xx xx 16.

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17. In K.K. Ahuja v. V.K. Vora and Another (2009) 10 SCC 48, this court observed that the averment in a complaint that an accused is a director and that he is in charge of and is responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, duly affirmed in the sworn statement, may be sufficient for the purpose of issuing summons to him. But if the accused is not one of the persons who falls under the category of 'persons who are responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company', then merely by stating that 'he was in charge of the business of the company' or by stating that 'he was in charge of the day to day management of the company' or by stating that he was in charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company', he cannot be made vicariously liable under Section 141(1) of the Act. 18.

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20. The court further observed that the trauma, harassment and hardship of the criminal proceedings in such cases may be more serious than the ultimate punishment, it is not proper to

subject all and sundry to be impleaded as accused in a complaint against a company, even when the requirements of section 138 read with section 141 of the Act are not fulfilled.

21. The legal position which emerges from a series of judgments is clear and consistent that it is imperative to specifically aver in the complaint that the accused was in charge of and was responsible for the conduct of business of the company. Unless clear averments are specifically incorporated in the complaint, the respondent cannot be compelled to face the rigmarole of a criminal trial." :++#//.#44,/4+5# /+#+##,#/#/4,#1#2%#4 &/ -/,4,,,,,/&/ /+# > #.#+,* ->/ /,+%, +,>#4%%#,,,.#51-//A##1, %,/4+5A1/&,5/5,A1FA5/&%+#4 %#:,/(/-.

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