- (1.) SRI Sankar Bhattacharjee, an Insurance Inspector of the Employees' State insurance Corpn. Calcutta, filed a complaint against the four petitioners of this revisional application in the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, calcutta alleging commission of an offence under Section 406 of the Indian penal Code. The material allegations in the complaint are as under.
(2.) THE petitioners are all directors of m/s. Indo Japan Steel Ltd. and as such they are the principal employers' as de-fined under section 2 (17) of the Employees' State Insurance, Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ). As the provisions of the said Act are applicable to the factory and the Head Office of the company, the petitioners as principal employers, are required to deduct from the wages of the every employees an amount of money in accordance with the first schedule of the said Act and are obligated to deposit the said contributions in the manner and within the period provided under title said Act. The complainant inspected the Head office of the Company and found that the petitioners, as the principal employers, deducted a sum of Rs. ,2,223. 50p. as employees' share of contribution from, their wages during the period from February 1981 to September 1981 but failed to deposit the said amount to the Employees' State Insurance Fund within the specified time. Thereby, according to the complainant, the petitioner's committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the aforesaid sum within the meaning of Explanation 2 to section 405 of the indian Penal Code for which they were liable for prosecution under section 406 of the Indian Penal Code.
(3.) ON that complaint the learned Magistrate took cognisance and issued summons against the petitioners to stand trial. The learned Magistrate also issued a search warrant for seizure of certain records of the Company as prayed for by the complainant. Aggrieved thereby the petitioners filed this instant application under sections. 401|482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which was heard as a contested one, for quashing the proceeding of the said case.;