- (1.) This is an application under S.482. Cr. P.C. wherein three applicants who are being prosecuted for violation of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution.) Act, 1974, have prayed that the complaint pending in the court of the Magistrate against them and filed by Law Officer of U.P. Pollution Control Board be quashed. The following points were pressed at the time of admission initially :- 1. The applicants, even if they are Directors, cannot be prosecuted, because Directors cannot be prosecuted for the offence. 2. The applicants are not Directors. 3. The applicants are old persons suffering from various ailments. 4. The applicants reside at different places. 5. No statement was recorded before issuing summons to the applicants. 6. No counter-affidavit has been filed by the opposite parties.
(2.) When the Court proposed to dictate the order, the learned counsel made a request that the case be listed again for admission. The Court ordered on 7-2-89 that the case was already listed for admission. All the same one week was allowed to the applicants to show law, if any. Ultimately, the case was fixed for judgement. Then the applicants have moved an application for amendment. Through this application following points have been raised :- 7. The applicants are being prosecuted for not taking the consent of the Board. But the applicants applied for consent and within four months Board did not give any consent. The refusal of application for consent by the Secretary is without jurisdiction and so it will be deemed under the provisions of S.25 of the Act that permission was given by the Board unconditionally. 8. A similar petition has been admitted by this High Court at Allahabad, though copy of that petition has not been filed, but its order has been quoted in the application for amendment.
(3.) In order to support the arguments that the applicants are no longer Directors, some papers have been filed to show that they have retired, though the date of retirement is not clear. Section 47(1) of the Act runs as under :- "Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was incharge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of, the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly : Provided that nothing contained in this Sub-Section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.";