S.S.Sandhawalia, J. - (1.) ON the 16th April, 1973, Shri Paul Oswal, Joint Managing Director, M/s. Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Ltd., Samrala Road, Ludhiana, instituted a complaint against Shri Govind Prasad Lath Petitioner in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana, levelling charges under Sections 409, 467, 468, 417 and 477 -A of the Indian Penal Code. The broad allegations levelled in the complaint were that M/s. Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Ltd., Ludhiana, had appointed M/s. J. R. Trading Company of Calcutta as their sole -selling agents for the sale of their products in West Bengal territory by an agreement last renewed on the 26th July, 1971. Besides this, the sole proprietor of the above -said concern Shri Janak Raj Punni also held a general power of attorney dated the 7th January, 1967, on behalf of the Company above said to look after their, business affairs at Calcutta. Shri Janak Raj Punni, in his turn, appointed Shri Gobind Prasad Lath as the distributor for the sale of the yarn manufactured by the Company in West Bengal on a commission basis of 1/2 per cent on all the sales affected in or outside the above -said territory. An agreement to this effect was entered into on the 14th June, 1966, and it was the complainant's case that relationship of principal and agent between Shri Janak Raj Punni and Gobind Prasad Lath Petitioner was created thereby. It was further the case that the Calcutta office of the Vardhman Spinning and General Mills Ltd. was manned by an Accountant named Shri Parkash Chander Sharma and Dharam Deo, a peon, who were supervised and controlled by Janak Raj Punni abovesaid.
(2.) THE business practice was that the distributor Shri Govind Prasad Lath and Shri Janak Raj Punni deposited the entire collection and sale proceeds in terms of the agreements within 24 hours of the realisation thereof with the company's bankers M/s. Allahabad Bank, Calcutta, who transmitted the same to the head office of the complainant Company. A regular account of the transaction was duly maintained by Shri Parkash Chander Sharma, Accountant, abovesaid. It was further the complainant's case that due to long -standing business deals, Shri Janak Raj Punni had come to repose the greatest confidence in Gobind Prasad Lath Petitioner. For the period between 8th March, 1973 and the 3rd April, 1973, Shri Janak Raj Punni was laid up with ill health and to meet the emergent official correspondence he entrusted Gobind Prasad Lath Petitioner with a few blank letter -heads of the Company duly signed by him. It was alleged that abusing the confidence reposed in him, the Petitioner got made false entries in the account books of the Company and forged documents purporting to be a letter of authority to withdraw huge sums of money from the Company out of the sale proceeds realised by him. By these methods, on the 29th March, 1973, a sum of Rs, 5,22,000 came into the hands of the Petitioner and contrary to the usual practice of depositing the above -said sale proceeds in the Bank, the Petitioner embezzled and misappropriated in all a sum of Rs. 5,17,000 therefrom. The details of the mode and manner of the embezzlement of different sums are given in paragraphs 4(a) to 4(j) of the complaint and detailed reference thereto is unnecessary for the purpose of this case at this stage. It was further alleged that on the 5th April, 1973, Shri Janak Raj Punni came to know of the withdrawal of the huge sums of money by the accused. Shri Parkash Chander Sharma informed him that on the 3rd April, 1973, he had been persuaded to carry the account books of the Company, to the place of the Petitioner where false entries were made in the account books purporting to be predated on the 29th March, 1973. Shri Janak Raj Punni was disagreeably surprised to notice this alleged treachery of the Petitioner and he along with Shri Darshan Kumar Oswal, Managing Director of the Company, who went to Calcutta, attempted to contact the Petitioner but he evaded all such moves and could not be traced. It is further the case that to add insult to injury, the Petitioner made a false report to the Bureau of Investigation, Finance Department, (Sales Department) West Bengal, Calcutta, and got some of the books of the Company removed from the office of the Company and some books from his own office.
(3.) SHRI Janak Raj Punni and Darshan Kumar Oswal, Managing Director of the Company, reported the matter to the Company's Head Office and also collected all possible information from the parties concerned. But, despite their efforts to contact the accused, they failed to do so because he had absconded. The Managing Director above -said of the Company attempted to examine the books seized by the Bureau of Investigation, Finance Department, but could not succeed.;