IMPORTANT POINT
Exercise of power under section 482 CrPC discussed.

Judgment

A.K.SIKRI,J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant-company has filed a complaint registered as ICC No.62/2008 under Sections 420/406/468/471, Indian Penal Code against the respondent herein and two others. After recording preliminary evidence, the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salipur, Orissa took cognizance of the aforesaid offence and issued summons to the accused persons including the respondents. On receiving the summons, the respondents filed applications under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal - Procedure with a prayer that orders dated 9.6.2008 by the learned JMFC taking cognizance of the complaint be quashed.

It was pleaded that the complaint was with regard to rendition of accounts maintained by the accused persons in respect of business between the complainant and the accused persons and therefore the dispute was of civil nature. The High Court has allowed the said application thereby setting aside orders taking cognizance of the offence. It is this order which is challenged by the appellant-complainant in these proceedings.

3. The impugned order is two page order. After taking note of facts in one paragraph, the High Court has allowed the application and quashed the order taking cognizance of the offence and the discussion leading to this judgment is contained in the following paragraph: "On perusal of the nature of allegations made in the complaint petition and the statements given by the complainant and the witnesses, it is clearly disclosed that the dispute is civil in nature relating to settlement of the accounts between the parties and no offence is made out."

4. Questioning the rationality of the aforesaid order, Mr. Ganguli, the learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant, took us through the various paragraphs of the complaint on the basis of which he made an attempt to demonstrate that it was not simply a civil dispute pertaining to - settlement of accounts between the parties. He also argued that the High Court had allowed petition filed by the respondent under Section 482,Cr.P.C. without giving any reason inasmuch as the impugned judgment hardly contained any discussion for arriving at the conclusion that the dispute in question was civil in nature.

Learned senior counsel, who appeared for the respondent, though tried to argue that conclusion of the High Court that dispute was of civil nature, he candidly concededly that the impugned judgment does not disclose as to how this finding was arrived at and that it was a non-speaking order. He, thus, submitted that instead of this Court is examining the issue, the matter be relegated back to the High Court for hearing afresh. Mr. Ganguly also accepted this suggestion of Mr. Giri. Accordingly, we set aside the impugned judgment and remand the case back to the High Court to decide the same with direction to hear afresh the petition filed by the respondent under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. and decide it on merits without being influenced by the earlier view taken in the impugned order dated 16.1.2012.

5. Before we part with, we would like to observe that this case necessitates making certain comments on the importance of rationale legal reasoning in support of judicial orders. From the extracted portion, which is the only discussion on the merits of the matter, it can clearly be discerned - that what is stated is the conclusion and no reasons are given by the High Court for holding that dispute between the parties is civil in nature. The complainant in its complaint had made various specific allegations of cheating, siphoning of funds and falsification of accounts etc. In the complaint filed by the appellant, the appellant averred that it is engaged in the business of manufacturing and sale of low ash phos metallurgical coke.

The appellant entered into a tripartite agreement dated 08.04.2003 with Om Prakash Jalan respondent No.1 herein and Mr. Rajeev Maheshwari-Respondent No.3 herein. In this agreement Respondent Nos.1 and 3 agreed to provid