The court ruled that a contractor cannot be criminally liable for the actions of a subcontractor without credible evidence of conspiracy or wrongdoing, leading to the discharge of the accused.

ORDER :

This criminal revision case is filed by the petitioners/A.14 and A.15 aggrieved by the order dated 04.08.2022 in Crl.M.P.No.59 of 2022 in C.C.No.28 of 2015 on the file of III Additional Special Judge for Trial of CBI Cases, Hyderabad. The petitioners herein have filed Crl.M.P.No.59 of 2022 under Section 239 Cr.P.C, praying the trial Court to discharge them from the above criminal case.

2. The facts of the case are that the 1^stpetitioner was arrayed as A.14 in his individual capacity, as he was the Managing Director of 2^nd petitioner-Company, which was arrayed as A.15 and represented by its Managing Director in C.C.28 of 2015. The petitioners alleged that based on a complaint given by the Zonal Manager of UCO Bank, Hyderabad to the DIG of Police, ACB, CBI, Hyderabad, a crime was registered in RC.15(A)/2013- CBI/Hyderabad. The CBI investigated the matter and filed a charge sheet against 15 accused attributing specific roles to each of them. The 1^stpetitioner, Managing Director of M/s.ARSS Infrastructure Projects Limited, Bhubaneswar, and the 2^ndpetitioner- M/s. ARSS Bhubaneswar represented by its Managing Director, entered into a criminal conspiracy with A.2, Managing Director of M/s.SSVG Engineering Projects Pvt. Ltd.- A.3 (for short ‘SSVG’), to cheat UCO Bank, Banjara Hills Branch, Hyderabad. In pursuance of the conspiracy, A.2 obtained a fake Bank Guarantee for Rs.5 Crores in the name of A.15 Company. The 1^st petitioner/A.14 dishonestly invoked the Bank Guarantee and fraudulently received Rs.5 Crores. The investigation revealed that the 2nd petitioner entered into a contract on 21.02.2009 with M/s. SSVG Hyderabad. In this connection, they submitted the Bank Guarantee format, a copy of Civil Contract Volume-1 between the Government of Odisha and Som Datt ARSS J.V. dated 03.11.2008, and other documents such as the Special Power of Attorney given by H.G. Advani dated 13.11.2008 in favour of S.P. Dash, the lawful attorney holder, and the Letter of Acceptance dated 27.09.2008. These documents were made available to M/s. SSVG, which in turn submitted them to UCO Bank, Banjara Hills Branch, Hyderabad. After receiving the Performance Bank Guarantee (PERFORMANCE BANK GUARANTEE) for Rs.5 Crores, M/s. ARSS Infrastructure Projects Limited, Bhubaneswar, and M/s. SSVG, Hyderabad, scrapped the sub-contract dated 10.03.2009 and entered into another sub-contract dated 09.04.2009.Under this contract, M/s. ARSS Infrastructure Projects Limited offered the work of widening and strengthening the existing carriageway to two lanes for Bhadrak–Chandbali part of package No. P02, from 0 to 45 km in SH-9 of the Government of Odisha worth Rs.100 Crores to M/s. SSVG, Hyderabad. The investigation further revealed that M/s. ARSS Bhubaneswar had not obtained permission from the employer, Government of Odisha, or from the Chief Engineer of the Project, SMEC International Pvt. Ltd. Thus, M/s. ARSS Bhubaneswar violated the special and general conditions of the main contract.The petitioners further stated that they were innocent of the offences alleged against them and that a false case had been foisted. They argued that the allegation regarding the absence of a provision for mobilization advance was incorrect. From the contract agreements dated 21.02.2009 and 10.03.2009, there was a separate head titled "Mobilization Advance." In fact, the works contract entered into between the J.V. Company and the Government of Odisha contained Clause 14.2 under the heading "Advance Payment," w