Judgment

VAIDIALINGAM, J. :- These three appeals by the complainant, by special leave, are against the common judgment and order dated August 10, 1969, of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Revisions Nos. 288, 289 and 290 of 1969, setting aside the charge under Section 120B read with S. 409 I.P.C. framed against all the four accused and the charge under S. 409 I.P.C. framed against accused Nos. 1 to 3. The High Court by the same judgment quashed the proceedings based upon the said charges, which were pending before the Presidency Magistrate, 7th Court, Calcutta in case No. C/3443 of 1967.

2. The appellant in all these three appeals, Amar Chand Agarwalla, filed a complaint before the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Calcutta, on November 21, 1967, on the basis of which the four accused persons, namely, Paremananda Agarwalla, Madan Mohan Gour, Jhumermal Agarwalla and Shanti Bose, were required to answer charges under Sections 120B/409 and 409, IPC. These persons will be referred to as accused Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The case was later on transferred to the Presidency Magistrate, 7th Court, Calcutta for disposal. The 7th Presidency Magistrate, after recording the evidence of ten prosecution witnesses, framed a charge on September 7, 1968, under S. 120B/409 against all the four accused and a charge under Section 409 I.P.C. against accused Nos. 1 to 3. The allegations in the complaint were briefly as follows :

3. The complainant was a partner of M/s Kalinga Bakery Biscuit Confectionary and Mineral Water Company of Rourkela in Orissa and was granted actual users import licence on November 18, 1966, by the Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, Calcutta, for import of Skimmed Milk Powder and other commodities upto the value of Rs. 60,000/-. This commodity was for the purpose of being used in the licencee s factory. The complainant appointed M/s. Arun Importer (P) Ltd., owned, managed and controlled by accused Nos. 1 to 3 as his agents to import 525 bags of milk powder from New Zealand. The first accused wrote a letter dated July 25, 1967, informing the complainant that the goods had already been shipped and that they would be arriving very shortly. Accused Nos. 1 to 3 also offered to assist the complainant with a loan of Rs. 25,000/- to enable him to clear the shipping documents from the Bank. The 4th accused was introduced by the other accused as a Customs Clearning Agent and on their suggestion, the complainant appointed him as his clearing agent. After clearing the shipping documents with the assistance of the loan provided by the accused, the complainant however, was not informed about the actual arrival of the ship. The complainant addressed a letter dated August 19, 1967, to accused No. 4 asking for information about the arrival of the goods. None of the accused gave any intimation about the arrival of the goods. However, to this surprise, the complainant read in the newspaper a report on August 23, 1967, about the police having recovered from the various parts of Calcutta several bags of milk powder stated to have been imported on his account. The complainant rushed to Calcutta and contacted the accused but was not able to get any information. Accused No. 4 flatly declined to even recognise the complainant or talk to him; accused Nos. 1 to 3, however, professed ignorance about the whole thing and hinted that accused No. 4 might have diverted the goods to other persons. On August 26, 1967, an application was filed before the Chief Presidency Magistrate to direct the police to make an investigation under Section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the missing quantity of milk powder. In the said application, however, only Shanti Bose (the present accused No. 4) was cited as an accused, as the complainant did not have any reason to suspect the other accused. The milk powder seized by the police was later on directed to be returned to the complainant by the High Court on his furnishing security. Accused No