Section 630 liability limited to officers and employees; third parties cannot be prosecuted merely for alleged abetment.

Section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 confines criminal liability to an officer or employee who wrongfully obtains or withholds company property. The provision was held not to extend to relatives or other third parties merely because they were alleged to have abetted the withholding. As the petitioners were neither officers nor employees of the company, the penal provision did not apply to them, and the proceedings against them were quashed.

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Issues: Whether persons who are neither officers nor employees of a company can be prosecuted under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 for allegedly abetting wrongful withholding of company property.

Analysis: Section 630 creates liability only against an officer or employee who wrongfully obtains possession of company property or wrongfully withholds it. The provision was read according to its express terms, and its scope was not expanded to include relatives or other third parties merely on an allegation of abetment. Since the petitioners were not officers or employees of the company, the penal provision did not apply to them.

Conclusion: The prosecution under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 could not continue against the petitioners, and the proceedings against them were liable to be dropped.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded and the criminal proceedings were quashed insofar as they related to the petitioners.

Ratio Decidendi: Liability under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 is confined to an officer or employee of the company, and the provision cannot be extended to prosecute persons outside that class merely on the basis of alleged abetment.

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