IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 20TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.7441 OF 2018 BETWEEN:
1. Milind Naik S/o Suresh Seetharam Naik Aged about 47 years, Director M/s. Chikitsak Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Off at HAL Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bengaluru – 560 008.
2. Mahalakshmi M.Naik W/o Milind Naik, Aged about 46 years, Director M/s. Chikitsak Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Off at HAL Airport Road, Kodihalli, Bengaluru – 560 008. ...Petitioners (By Sri. Hemachandra R. Rai, Advocate) AND:
State of Karnataka By Cubbon Park Police Station, Bengaluru - 560 001.
Represented by SPP Karnataka High Court Building, Bengaluru. ...Respondent (By Sri. K.P. Yoganna, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 439 of Cr.P.C praying to enlarge the petitionerS on bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.129/2018 of Cubbon Park Police Station, Bengaluru for the offence P/U/S 406, 420 of IPC.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this day, the Court made the following:
O R D E R The present petition has been filed by the petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. seeking to release them on anticipatory bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.129/2018 of Cubbon Park Police Station, for the offence punishable under Sections 406 and 420 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 and also learned HCGP appearing for respondent-State.
3. The genesis of the complaint are that: the Assistant General Manager, Canara Bank has filed a complaint alleging that the accused persons have sought for loan for the purpose of doing business under Unnathi Scheme. It is contended that the said firm offered hypothecation of stock/book debits in respect of the term loan. Upon such guarantee of the Directors of the Company i.e., accused Nos.1 to 3 availed the credit facility and Bank has released the term loan of Rs.68,90,796/- on 04.01.2016 in favour of accused No.4. The loan amount was sanctioned for the purpose of purchasing electronic gadgets/medical kits from M/s. Earnest Life Style and Vision Care Company. It is further contended that inspite of release of the amount, the accused persons have not given the bills, invoices and further, they are in due of payment of installments as per the terms of the loan. It is further contended that the Directors of the Company have not furnished the new address and there is default in payment of the said loan availed. On the basis of the said complaint, case came to be registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioners that accused Nos.3 and 4 have played fraud and colluded with each other to avail the said credit facility. He further submits that accused No.4 is the supplier and he has availed the loan in collusion with accused No.3 and even inspite of availing the loan from the Canara Bank, he has not supplied the said goods as agreed. He further submits that petitioners have lodged a compliant to the jurisdictional police as well as to the Police Commissioner about the fraud and cheating played by accused Nos.3 and 4. He further submitted that the said company is a registered company. For having played the fraud, petitioners have also filed a suit for recovery of said amount in O.S. No.112/2019 before the City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru. He further submitted that the petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 are in no way concerned with any of the offence alleged against them. He further submitted that the petitioners are ready to abide by the conditions imposed on them by this Court and ready to offer sureties. On these grounds, he prayed to release the petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 on bail and allow the petition.
5. Per contra, the learned HCGP vehemently argued and submitted that the petitioners being the Directors of the company are liable for breach of trust and the company on which the credit facility has been utilized is not a registered company and even goods have not been purchased and invoice transaction is created in collusion with accused Nos.3 and 4. It is further submitted that the public money has been mis-used by the accused persons. He further submitted that investigation is still in progress. If at this juncture, the accused-petitioners are released on bail, they may abscond and may not be available for trial. On these grounds, he prayed to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the contents of the complaint and perused the records.
7. It is the contention of the learned HCGP that the said company is not a registered company, but the learned counsel for the petitioners has made available the certificate of incorporation issued by the Deputy Registrar of Companies for having registered the company under the Companies Act. He has also produced the Income Tax Department’s PAN Card bearing No.AAGCC0712N and he has also produced the copy of the suit in O.S. No.112/2019 to show that the Company itself has filed a suit against accused No.4 for having cheated the said company for recovery of Rs.1,22,31,163/-. The contents of the complaint that the accused persons being Directors of the said company have represented the Canara Bank and they have sought for loan for business under Unnathi Scheme and they have also offered hypothecation of stock/book debits in respect of the term loan and same was accepted and subsequently, accused No.4 availed the credit facility and bank has released the term loan of Rs.68,90,796/-. It is the specific case of the petitioners that accused Nos.3 and 4 have played fraud and availed the credit facility but they have not supplied any of the electronic gadgets/medical kits to Company and as such, they have filed the complaint and they have also filed a suit for recovery of the said amounts.
8. By taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances, when the investigation is in progress I feel, by imposing stringent conditions the petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 may be ordered to be released on bail, which is going to meet the ends of justice and it will also help the investigating officer. It is also observed that if the bail is granted, then in such circumstances, it is going to help to secure the presence of the accused persons for investigation to know the fraud played as contended.
9. Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances, the petition is allowed and petitioner/accused Nos.1 and 2 are ordered to be released on bail with the following conditions:
10. Petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 are ordered to be enlarged on bail in Crime No.129/2018 of Cubbon Park Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 406 and 420 of IPC, subject to the following conditions:
1. Petitioners/accused Nos.1 and 2 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- each (Rupees Five lakhs only) with two sureties each for the likesum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer.
2. They shall surrender before the Investigating Officer within 15 days from today.
3. They shall not tamper with the prosecution witness either directly or indirectly.
4. They shall mark their attendance once in 15 days between 10.00 a.m., to 5.00 p.m., before the jurisdictional police station till investigation is completed.
5. They shall not leave the jurisdiction of Court and also the country without prior permission.
Sd/- JUDGE MBM