SENGOTTUVELAN J.

The petitioners herein have filed the above criminal miscellaneous petitions to quash the proceedings in C.C. Nos. 17820 of 1981, 1456 of 1982, 1457 of 1982, 1458 of 1982 and 1459 of 1982, respectively, on the file of the Economic Offences Court No. II, Egmore, Madras. The facts of the case are briefly as follows : The first petitioner in all these petitions, namely, the company, the second petitioner, who was the then director of the company, and the third petitioner, a past director, are prosecuted for violation of the provisions of section 58A(3), section 58A(4) and section 58A(5) of the Companies Act, 1956, for not refunding the deposits taken by the company within the prescribed time. The provision of section 58A provides for a punishment of imprisonment up to five years.

Originally, under the Companies Act, prior to the introduction of section 58A, there was no prohibition for companies against receiving deposits and, subsequently, under a regulation issued under Chapter III of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, all deposits taken were directed to be repaid in full on or before April 1, 1975, and any violation of the said provision was punishable