The main legal point established is the entitlement of a former employee to retain a company's quarter and the applicability of Section 452 of the Companies Act, 2013.

JUDGMENT

Tirthankar Ghosh, J. - The present revisional application has been preferred against the order dated 17-4-2019 passed by the ACJM, Durgapur in connection with Complaint Case No. C-100458 of 2018 under Section 452 of the Companies Act, 2013, wherein the Ld. Magistrate was pleased to reject the prayer of the petitioner for delivery of possession of the premises/flat in issue, so preferred under Sub-Section (2) of the Section 452 of the said Act.

2. The allegations made in the petition of complaint which was preferred under Section 452 of the Companies Act, 2013 are as follows:-

(a) The accused/opposite party was appointed as a Junior Metallurgical Assistant by the complainant company vide an appointment letter dated 1-6-1979 and the said letter contained various terms and conditions of employment, one of which being eligibility for housing accommodation on the terms during the tenure of employment of the accused/opposite party. As per the aforesaid terms the accused/opposite party was allowed housing accommodation of the company in respect of Quarter No. LR-479, ABL Township, Durgapur- 713206.

(b) The company allowed the accused/opposite party to occupy the residential premises as licensee which was to be vacated immediately upon the accused/opposite party quitting the service of the company or upon the termination thereof by the company. The terms also included that in the event, the accused fails to vacate the quarter within 24 hours of his quitting service of the company, he shall be treated as trespasser.

(c) The accused/opposite party retired from the service of the company on 30-11-2014 and thereafter on several occasions the accused was called upon to vacate the said quarter which he was occupying, since he was no longer entitled to occupy the same by reasons of his superannuation from the employment, however, the accused on one pretext or the other continued to occupy the said quarter.

(d) The company thereafter issued a letter dated 12-4-2018 through their advocate calling upon the accused to vacate and handover peaceful possession of the said quarter to the company, but, the accused did not respond to the same and as such according to the complainant the accused was wrongfully and illegally withholding the company's quarter since 30-11-2014, thus the company was compelled to file a complaint against the accused for the offence committed by him under Section 452 of the Companies Act, 2013 for wrongfully withholding company's property.

3. The present petitioner being the complainant preferred an application under Sub-Section (2) of Section 452 of the Companies Act, in the proceedings thereby praying for a direction from the Ld. Court for the accused to handover possession of the said quarter being LR-479, ABL Township, Durgapur-713206 within such time as Ld. Court deems fit and proper and also prayed for an order of injunction restraining the accused person or its agents and/or servant and/or each one of them from alienating or transferring or creating a third party interest in respect of the aforesaid premises/quarter.

4. The Ld. ACJM, Durgapur by an order dated 17-4-2019 was pleased to dismiss the application under Sub-Section (2) of Section 452 of the Companies Act so preferred at the instance of the complainant/petitioner on the ground that the issues so raised cannot be decided at the threshold of the case but are to be decided at the conclusion of trial. By the same order the Ld. Court was pleased to dismiss the said application under Section 452 (2) of the Companies Act.

5. Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Ld. Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the accused joined the service of the company in the year 1979 and during the period of his employment, he was provided with quarter No. LR-479 in ABL Township, Durgapur vide a Leave & License Agreement. The Opposite party superannuated from his service on 30-11- 2014 and thereafter on several occasions the company requested and also sent let