Karnataka High Court
Sri Anne Gowda vs State Of Karnataka on 16 December, 2016
Author: Anand Byrareddy
Bench: Anand Byrareddy
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT
BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 16TH DAY OF DECEMBER 2016
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANAND BYRAREDDY
CRIMINAL PETITION No.3738 OF 2016
BETWEEN:
Sri. Anne Gowda,
Son of Late R.T.Sonnappa,
Aged about 73 years,
Residing at Flat No.204,
39th 'A' Cross,
9th Main, V Block,
Jayanagar,
Bengaluru - 560 041. ...PETITIONER
(By Shri Tomy Sebastian, Senior Advocate for Ms. Reny
Sebastian, Advocate)
AND:
1. State of Karnataka,
By C.O.D., (F.S.) Police,
Bengaluru - 560 001.
2. Karnataka State Co-operative
Apex Bank Limited,
West of Chord Road Branch,
2
Bengaluru - 560 010.
Represented by CEO,
Apex Bank,
H.O., Chamarajpet,
Bangalore - 560 018. ...RESPONDENTS
(By Shri K.R.Keshav Murthy, State Public Prosecutor-II, for
Respondent No.1;
Shri Indrasen S., and Shri Rahul K., Advocates for
Shri Abhinav R., Advocate for Respondent No.2)
*****
This Criminal Petition filed under Section 482 code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973, praying to quash the criminal
proceedings in C.C.No.8099/2001 on the file of I Additional
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bangalore registered for the
offence punishable under Sections 409, 477(A) and 201 read
with 34 of IPC.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Admission this day,
the court made the following:
ORDER
The petitioner and the second respondent have filed a joint application seeking composition of the offences.
2. The petitioner has sought for quashing of the criminal case in C.C.No.8099/2001 on the file of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bangalore, registered for offences punishable under Sections 409, 477A, 467, 468, 471, and 201 3 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as 'the IPC', for brevity). The petitioner is arrayed as Accused No.2 therein. There are in all 11 charge- sheets which are filed against the petitioner and others in respect of misappropriation of funds said to belong to the second respondent - Bank, which is an Apex Co-operative Bank. The incidents are spread over the period between 1.3.1988 and 3.10.1991. In three cases, trial has been completed resulting in the acquittal of the petitioner in two cases, namely C.C.No.8097/2001 and C.C.8165/1994 and has resulted in conviction of the petitioner in C.C.No.8055/1993. The petitioner has preferred an appeal in Crl.A.11/2008 challenging his conviction in C.C.No.8055/1993. The State has preferred appeals in Crl.A.56/2012 challenging the acquittal of the petitioner in the first of these cases, namely C.C.8097/2011 and Crl.A.615/2010 challenging the acquittal of the petitioner in C.C.No.8165/1994. All the three appeals are said to be 4 pending before the LI Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore.
3. The present petition Crl.P.3728/2016 is filed seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings in C.C.No.8099/2001. During the pendency of the three criminal appeals before the Sessions Court as well as when the trial of eight other cases before the Magistrate were on, the petitioner had approached the Bank seeking a compromise of the dispute with the Bank. The Bank in turn had placed the matter before its Board of Directors and it was resolved that the matter could be compromised, in the best interest of the Bank. It was also expressed that the petitioner may indeed have been a victim of circumstance and he has been facing the prosecution for the past 25 years and it may have been the cashier one B.N. Jaganath who was obviously responsible for the falsification of the accounts as well as misappropriation, right from the year 1981 till 1991. It was the opinion expressed by the Board of Directors that the acquittal of the predecessor managers in the 5 ten charge-sheets filed against them in respect of misappropriation from the year 1981 to 1988 and the fact that the cashier B.N. Jaganath who had misappropriated the funds by falsification of accounts had reportedly committed suicide, thereby indicating that the Managers involved were indeed innocent, has appealed to the Board of Directors. Therefore, they had accepted that the matter could be compromised.
The petitioner has therefore taken the extreme step of selling his valuable property in Bangalore. The property has been sold to the Bank itself for a total sum of Rs.2,01,47,000/-, and the entire amount has been adjusted by the Bank towards the principal liability as well as the interest payable by the petitioner. The second respondent is therefore satisfied with the settlement.
In that view of the matter, the second respondent is ready and willing to compound the offences against the petitioner in all the ten cases which are pending.
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4. It is pointed out by the learned Senior Advocate Shri Tomy Sebastian that the offences no doubt are of misappropriation under Section 409 IPC and falsification of accounts under Sections 467, 468 and 477A of the IPC. However, he submits that this would pale into insignificance insofar as the petitioner is concerned, as it was indeed the cashier who was the main person who might have falsified the accounts and hence would seek that there would be no impediment to apply the ratio of the series of judgments of the Supreme Court including Gian Singh vs. State of Punjab and Another ((2012) 10 SCC 303, where in such circumstances if the larger interest of the society are not affected by composition of the cases which involve monetary transactions, and which would not have other repercussions, the matter could be compounded.
5. The learned counsel for the Bank and the learned State Public Prosecutor do not oppose this contention. 7
6. Accordingly, the petition is allowed. As the offences are non-compoundable, this court in exercise of its power under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., quashes the proceedings pending in C.C.No.8099/2001 pending on the file of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bangalore, insofar as the petitioner is concerned.
Sd/-
JUDGE KS