IMPORTANT POINT
The court held that a prima facie case was established for charges under Section 408 IPC, emphasizing the limited scope of quashing under Section 482 CrPC without conducting a mini trial.

JUDGMENT :

MITALI THAKURIA, J.

Heard Mr. T. Kalita, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. M. P. Goswami, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State respondent No.1 and Mr. S. C. Keyal, learned counsel for the respondent No.2.

2. This application is filed under Sections 482 read with Section 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, praying for the setting aside and quashing of the order dated 16.10.2023, passed by the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup (M) [in short ‘ld. Addl. CJM], Guwahati, Assam, in PRC Case No. 2001/2019 by which charge under Section 408 of the IPC has been framed against the present petitioner.

3. The brief facts of the case is that: on 23.02.2019, one Sri Pulak Baidya, (SM) of Nexa Chandmari/respondent No.2, lodged an FIR before the Chandmari Police Station alleging, inter alia, that one of their employees, who had already been terminated, was found to have engaged in embezzlement of company funds while dealing with customers. The employee had inappropriately handled cash payments and, during the account audit, a shortage in the payments for the cases he had handled was discovered. Thereafter, the management of NEXA Chandmari (Pallavi Motors Pvt. Ltd.) published a public notice in the Assam Tribune.

4. Further, based on the FIR, a criminal case was registered by the Officer-in- Charge of Chandmari Police Station, vide Chandmari Police Station Case No. 159/2019, under Section 408 of IPC against the present petitioner. Subsequently, the petitioner was arrested by the Chandmari Police on 26.02.2019 and forwarded to the Court of the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Kamrup (M), at Guwahati on 27.02.2019. It is worth mentioning here that the Investigating Authority did not seek the custody of the accused for the purpose of investigation, and accordingly, the accused was remanded to Jail Hajot. The petitioner was granted bail by this Court on 26.03.2019, vide Order in Bail Application No. 682/2019. While granting bail, this Court observed that the amount allegedly misappropriated by the petitioner had not been mentioned in the FIR, nor was it reflected in the forwarding report. The FIR was further observed to be very unspecific.

5. After investigating the allegations in the FIR, the I.O submitted the Charge- Sheet (No. 31 dated 31.03.2019) before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup (M) [in short ‘ld. CJM], at Guwahati. As per the Charge-Sheet, it appears that the I.O had visited the place of occurrence and recorded witness statements, and concluded that the case against the present petitioner under Section 408 of IPC was well established. It is noteworthy that the Charge-Sheet does not mention the seizure of any documents from NEXA Chandmari, Pallavi Motors, or any audit report, bank statements, etc., despite the alleged embezzlement of company funds.

6. Following the submission of the Charge-Sheet before the ld. CJM, PRC No. 2001/2019 was initiated, and trial ensued against the present petitioner. It is stated that the learned Trial Court, upon receiving the case record on transfer, took cognizance of the offence under Section 408 of IPC against the present petitioner, vide Order dated 02.09.2019. The learned Magistrate, by the same Order, also directed that summons be issued to the petitioner. In compliance with the summons, the petitioner appeared in PRC No. 2001/2019, and relevant copies such as the FIR, statements of three prosecution witnesses recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Charge- Sheet were provided to the petitioner as an accused in the PRC. After service of the relevant copies by the prosecution side, the learned Magistrate heard the prosecution side, represented by the learned Additional Public Prosecutor, as well as the engaged Counsel for the petitioner, at length on the consideration of the Charge on 03.08.2023. The