Continuing offence doctrine: late filing defaults under company law are complete on expiry of time, so limitation bars delayed prosecution.

Failure to file annual returns and balance-sheets within the prescribed time was treated as a completed statutory default, not a continuing offence. A continuing offence requires a breach that persists from day to day until compliance; the court held that the omission here ended when the filing period expired. The enhanced penalty under the Companies Act was regarded as a compliance measure, not a factor that turned the original default into a continuing breach. As a result, limitation under section 468 CrPC ran from the date of expiry of the filing period, and delayed cognizance of the complaints was barred.

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Issues: Whether the failure to file annual returns and balance-sheets under sections 159 and 220 of the Companies Act constituted continuing offences so as to avoid the bar of limitation under section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The Court adopted the view that a continuing offence must involve a breach which persists from day to day until compliance. Failure to file annual returns and balance-sheets within the prescribed time was held to be complete on the expiry of the statutory period, and not an offence repeated day to day. The enhanced penalty under section 162 was treated only as a measure of punishment to secure compliance, and not as converting the initial default into a continuing one.

Conclusion: The offences were not continuing offences and, therefore, cognizance of the complaints after the limitation period under section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was barred. The complaints and proceedings were quashed in favour of the petitioners.

Final Conclusion: Statutory defaults in filing annual returns and balance-sheets were held to be complete upon the initial non-compliance, with the result that delayed prosecution could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory default is a continuing offence only when the breach itself recurs from day to day until compliance; where the obligation is merely to file within a prescribed time, the offence is complete on expiry of that time and limitation applies from that date.

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