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2001 Supreme(Guj) 302

Gujarat High Court
Judgename :H.H.MEHTA
PRITI BHOJNAGARWALA - Appellant
Versus
STATE - Respondent
CRI.M.A. 4188 of 1999
Decided On : 05/04/2001

Advocates Appeared: H.L.JANI, K.S.Nanavati, M.R.BAROT, R.S.SANJANWALA, RAJESH K.KANANI

Headnote:

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 –Section - 482 - Quash set aside respective complaints - Stated complaint - Complainant as required to be recorded under Sec. 200 of the Cr. P. C. On punishable under Sec. 138 of the Act - Order to register the complaint of the complainant as Criminal Case reading the complaint as a whole together with a verification of complainant on oath and the documents produced complaint, appears, conclusion sufficient ground for proceeding cognizance offence and issue summon against the accused on payment of process fees for securing the presence of accused – Held, -complainant squarely falls under Sec. 141 (2) read with Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. There are averments in the complaint for making out a prima facie case under Sec. 141 (2) of the Act for taking cognizance by the learned Magistrate. The learned Magistrate has rightly taken the cognizance of an offence under Sec. 138 of the Act committed Company taking cognizance against the accused for the offence stated in the complaint, the learned Magistrate has abused the process of his Court, and therefore, the applications under Sec. 482 Cr. P. C. are devoid of merits and the same require to be dismissed out-right, on merits - Accordingly, 30 (thirty) Criminal Misc. Applications filed under Sec. 482 Cr. P. C. respective complaints filed by the respective complainants are dismissed by this one common judgment, because as these 30 Criminal Misc. Applications are decided in a group as jointly requested by the learned advocates for both the parties. Rule issued in each Criminal Misc. Application shall stand discharged. Interim relief granted earlier and which had been extended from time to time till this date in each case shall stand vacated forth with. The learned Magistrate be informed of accordingly without any further delay.

H. H. MEHTA, J.

( 1 ) THIS is a group of 30 Criminal Misc. Applications filed under Sec. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short "cr. P. C. ") by the petitioner -original accused No. 3 - Priti Manoj Bhojnagarwala who happens to be the wife of accused no. 2 Manoj Jagdishbhai Bhojnagarwala, with a request to quash and set aside the respective complaints filed by Shri Priyakant R. Parikh in his individual capacity as well as the Karta of his Hindu Undivided Family and also by his close near relative, as stated in Annexure : I which will be a part and parcel of this Judgment.

( 2 ) WITH the consent of the learned advocates for both the parties, these 30 Criminal Misc. Applications are taken up for final hearing in a group and as the common questions of law and facts are involved in this group of 30 Criminal Misc. Applications, they are disposed of by this one common Judgment.

( 3 ) COMMON facts leading to this group of 30 Criminal Misc. Applicaions in a nutshell are as follows. The facts stated hereinbelow are taken from the complaint of Criminal Case No. 3432 of 1998 which is sought to be quashed in (Main) Criminal Misc. Application No. 4188 of 1999. 3. 1 the complainant whose complaint is sought to be quashed which is filed as Private Complaint in the Court of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, Court No. 4, Ahmedabad (who will be referred to hereinafter as the learned Magistrate for the sake of convenience) and as per the complaint of Criminal Case No. 3432 of 1998 which is sought to be quashed by preferring Criminal Misc. Application No. 4188 of 1999, Accused no. 1 is Nidhi Investments ( Private Firm ). Accused nos. 2 and 3 are the partners in that firm i. e. accused no. 1. Accused no. 2 is a husband of accused no. 3. 3. 2 complainants sisters daughter has married with one Yogendra Jagdishbhai Bhojnagarwala who happens to be the younger brother of accused no. 2 Manoj Bhojnagarwala and there have been family relations between accused nos. 2 and 3 and complainant since long. As per the case of complainant, Nidhi Investments (Private Firm) started to function and carry on its business with effect from 27/6/1992. 3. 3 as stated in Para 3 of the complaint, accused nos. 2 and 3 both had jointly represented to the complainant through their good offices of Yogendra Jadjishbhai with whom the daughter of complainants sister has married as well as their (Majoj and Yogendras) parents namely Jagdishbhai and Sulochnaben, that Nidhi Investment i. e. accused no. 1 handles all portfolio of shares and finances in the most successful way and the complainant being the relative should entrust both these aspects i. e. portfolios of shares as well as finances/deposit management to Nidhi Investments and the parents had orally guaranteed safety and security of the same. 3. 4 as stated in Para 4 of the complaint, during the period from 20/12/1997 to 10/9/1998, the complainant Shri Priyakant R. Parikh advanced his deposits to the tune of Rs. 2,03,00,000. 00 by different cheques to the Nidhi Investments. The particulars of aforesaid deposits are stated in Para 4 of the complaint. It is the case of the complainant that a large amount of money was advanced as deposits on various dates, to the accused and accused nos. 2 and 3 represented to the complainant that all the members of the family are concerned (connected) with Nidhi Investment, and therefore, accused no. 2 Manoj is authorised to sign as Authorised Signatory, and therefore, the complainant had no reason to suspect the malafide of any of the accused. 3. 5 as stated in Para 5 (A) of the complaint, the accused were paying back the amounts as well as interest to the complainant. As per particulars given in Para 5 (A) of the complaint, the accused returned a total amount of Rs. 1,05,00,000. 00 towards the principal amount during the period from 4/4/1998 to 16/9/1998 by 12 different items. It is also the case of the complainant that accused have paid in all Rs. 1,02,25,500. 00 towards int





































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