- (1.) The Judgment of the Court was as follows : Invoking Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioners has come up before this Court for quashing of their prosecution relating to the offence punishable under Sections 138/141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
(2.) This criminal revision was pending before this Court since 1999. In the meantime, in February, 2005 this matter came up for hearing before another Bench of this Court and the learned Advocate of the petitioners appeared and expressed his desire to retire from the case as he has no instruction in the matter. When this Hon'ble Court directed issuance of administrative notice, but the service of the administrative notice could not have been effected for one reason or other. Thereafter, on June 9, 2009 this Court once again directed issuance of administrative notice. Since the office cum factory premises of the petitioners was found to be closed due to a lock out, the service was effected by pasting the notice on the gate of the factory premises in presence of the independent public witnesses. The aforesaid matter was then taken up for hearing by this Bench on October 20, 2009 although Mr. Sandip Ghosal for the complainant/opposite party was very much present in Court, but in spite of repeated calls none appeared on behalf of the accused/opposite party.
(3.) The only question that arises for decision in the instant criminal revision, is this, whether a criminal proceeding is liable to be quashed merely because a civil suit over the self-same dispute between the parties is pending before the High Court.;