ALMOHAN DAS AND ORS. versus STATE OF WEST BENGAL

Citation: [1969] 2 S.C.R. 520 · Decided: 25-10-1968 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: J.C. SHAH · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

ALMOHAN DAS AND ORS. 
v, 
STATE OF WEST BENGAL 
October 25, 1968 
A 
[J. C. SHAH AND V. RAMASWAMI, JJ.] 
B 
Criminal Procedure Code 1898, ss. 207A and 209---Committal proceed-
ings-If Magistrate should be satisfied as to guilt of accused or only that 
there is some credible evidence to sustain a conviction before making order 
of commitment.---Circumstances in which High Court justified in interfer-
ing with committal in revision. 
On a complaint filed by the Registrar of Companies, and after an inves-
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ligation by the Police ordered by the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Calcutta, 
proceedings were instituted against the appellants for conspiring to commit 
criminal !;reach df trust in respect of a company's funds. After a large 
number of witnesses were examined and several documents were tendered 
in evidence, the Magistrate committed the adcused to stand trial for offences 
under s. 120B read with Sections 409, 477A I.P.C. before the Court of 
Sessions. A revision application against the order of committal was rejected 
in limine by the High Court. In appeal to this CourUt was contended on 
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behalf of the appellants that there was no evidence on which the order of 
commitment could be made and that under s. 209 ( 1) Cr. P. C., the charge 
may be framed only lf in the view of the committing Magistrate the evidence 
on record is sufficien~ to justify conviction of the accused·. 
HELD : Dismissing the appeal : 
On the facts, it could not be said that there was no evidence on which a 
charge could be framed against the appellants or that the evidence was so 
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totally unworthy of credit that an order recording the conviction against 
the accused could not be made. 
Although in terms s. 209 applies to cases which are instituted otherwise 
than on a police report, the principle underlying that 'section also applies 
to cases which are institnted on a police report. A Magistrate holding an 
inquiry has to see whether there is, sufficient evidence for commitment, and 
not whether there is sufficient evidence for conviction. 
~f there is no 
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prima facie evidence or the evidence is totally unworthy of credit, it is his 
duty to discharge the accused : if there is some evidence on which a con-
viction may reasonably be based, he must commit the case; [525 A-CJ 
Normally the High Court in a revision application filed 
against the 
order of commitment under s. 207 A will not enter upon a reappraisal of 
the evidence on which the order of commitment is made. The High 
Court would be justified in exercising its revisional ju'risdiction where a 
G 
substantial question of law arises on which the correctness of the order of 
commitment may be effectively challenged. 
But in other cases the trial 
before the Court of Session should be allowed to run its course. [522 
G-523 BJ 
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 
129 of 1966. 
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated 
March 21, 1966 of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Revision 
No. 309 of 1966. 
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ALMOHAN V. WEST BENGAL (Shah, J.) 
521 
A. K. Sen, P. K. Chatterjee, M. M. Kshatriya and G. S. 
Chatterjee, for the appellants. 
B. Sen and P. K. Chakravarti, for the respondent . 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Shah, J. Mahendra Lal and Probhat Kumar Sarkar were the 
promoters, and Almohan Das was the first Chairman of the 
Board of Directors of the Great Indian Steam Navigation Com-
pany Ltd. 
Messrs. Das Brothers of which Almohan Das was 
the sole proprietor became the managing agents of the Company 
in 1945. 
On July 2, 1951, Das Group Ltd. of which also 
Ahnohan Das was the principal Director took over the managing 
agency. 
The. Registrar of Companies, West Bengal filed a complaint 
in the Court of the Chief Presidency Magistrate alleging that some-
time between March 1, 1945 and December 31, 1947 a sum of 
Rs. 7,23,031-9-6 was advanced by the Company to the managing 
agents Messrs Das Brothers; that on July 2, 1951 Messrs Das 
Brothers resigned from the managing agency and Messrs Das 
Group Ltd. took over the managing agency; that Almohan Das 
was at all material times a director of the company and also a 
director of Messrs Das Group Ltd. and the sole proprietor of 
Messrs Das Brothers; and that the complainant had reason to 
believe that Ahnohan Das with other directors of the company 
had committed offences under ss. 86-D and 87-D of the Indian 
Companies Act, 
1913

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