V.K. Shali, J.

1. These are two petitions filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. The first petition is filed by Sanjay Daksha, Sofiur Rehman and Binod R while as, the other petition bearing Crl. M.C. No. 1650/2008 is filed by Santosh Kumar Bagla. In both these petitions, a prayer for quashing of the FIR No. 21/2005, registered under Sections 120B/420/467/468/471/477A IPC by P.S. Lodhi Colony, New Delhi, dated 19.1.2005, is made. The aforesaid FIR has been registered pursuant to the complaint dated 10.8.2004, lodged by the respondent No. 4/Ms.Mausumi Bhattacharjee.

2. Briefly stated, the facts leading to the filing of the present petitions are that the respondent No. 4 lodged a complaint on 10.8.2004 against nine persons including the present four petitioners, making specific allegations that they had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the other five accused persons and committed the offence of cheating by using forged documents and submitting the same with the Registrar of Companies on different formats/forms and using the said forged documents as genuine in order to claim themselves to be the Directors of the Company. It is also alleged that they also committed falsification of accounts.

3. In order to appreciate the rival contentions of the parties, it will be pertinent to give the contents of the complaint lodged by the respondent No. 4. on the basis of which the FIR has been registered. The same reads as under:-

“(1) That the complainant is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 having its registered office at 55 Vidyut Nikunj Apartment 112, Patparganj, New Delhi 110092 and Ms. Mausumi Bhattacharjee has been its Director since November 1997 and became its Managing Director w.e.f. 04.5.2001 holding the entire share capital of the company either directly or through their friends and relatives (hereinafter collectively referred to as the ‘Complainant’).

(2) The company was earlier owned, controlled, managed by Late Shri Damodar Prasad Gupta along with his sons, Sh. Yogesh Gupta and Sudhir Gupta until the complainant became Director w.e.f. 01.11.97 and later became the Managing Director w.e.f. 04.05.2001, took over the management of the company and its shareholding from the aforesaid erstwhile Directors/shareholders, while Late Sh. D.P. Gupta and Sh. Yogesh Gupta resigned as Director w.e.f. 01.11.1997. Sh. Sudhir Gupta ceased to be Director w.e.f. 04.10.1999.

(3) The complainant owns a plot of land at Dehradun. This plot was notified as a forest land on 01.09.1969 vide notification No. 449/1-1-2(3)/69 by the then Government of Uttar Pradesh, which was challenged by the Company in the High Court of Allahabad vide Petition No. 2160 of year 1970. The High Court of Allahabad decided the matter in favour of the company on 16.04.1974. The U.P. Government went for an appeal in the Supreme Court of India, vide Appeal No. 2046 of 1974 against the order of High Court of Allahabad. The Supreme Court also decided in favour of the Company on 11.11.1975. However, the Government of U.P. and subsequently, the Government of Uttaranchal again notified the Area as forest land vide notification No. 4968/12-2/96/4(1) 96 dated 20.11.1996. Meanwhile, the petitioner, Director of the company, objected to this notification before the FSO (Forest Settlement Officer), Dehradun vide application No. 261/98-99.

The SDM Dehradun vide his order dated 21.03.2003 upheld the contention of the company and denotified the area.

The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) filed an appeal No. 78/2003 before the District Judge, Dehradun on 02.07.2003 before the District Judge, Dehradun on 02.07.2003 against the aforesaid order titled as ‘Divisional Forest Officer, Dehradun, Forest Department and State Government v. Anghaila Housing Private Limited, 55 Vidyut Nikunj, 112, Patpadganj, Delhi-92 through its Managing Director, Ms. Mausumi Bhattacharjee.”

In both the cases i.e. representing before the FSO (Forest Settlement Officer) and representing before the Hon’ble