SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. A conflict of judicial view between the Bombay High Court and the Gujarat High Court in respect of the power of the company court u/s 391 (6) of the Companies Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) to stay criminal proceedings has given rise to the present appeal.

.2. The commercial relationship between the appellant and the respondent started with an Inter Corporate Deposit (ICD) of Rs.2.50 crores being placed by the appellant with the respondent under two separate agreements dated 26.9.1997 and 03.10.1997 by way of two separate cheques of Rs.1.25 lac each which were duly encashed. The said ICDs were for a period of 120 days and the respondent company were liable to repay the same before the expiry of the said period along with interest @25.5% per annum. In case of default, the rate of interest was to be enhanced by an additional interest of 11% per annum. It is the case of the appellant that the respondent failed to repay the ICD with interest and, thus, gave rise to two sets of separate proceedings. One proceeding arose out of the cheques issued by the respondent to clear the liabilities which were dishonoured on account of paucity of funds

Click Here to Read the rest of this document