Continuing offence doctrine applies to wrongful withholding of company property, keeping limitation alive until restoration.

Wrongful withholding of a company's property after termination of employment under section 630(1)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956 is treated as a continuing offence because the wrongful possession subsists until the property is delivered up or refunded. On that construction, limitation under Chapter XXXVI of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 runs so long as the offence continues, and cognizance is not barred merely because the first act of withholding occurred earlier. Complaints regarding company quarters retained after retirement were therefore held to be within time, and the contrary findings below were set aside.

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Issues: Whether an offence under section 630(1)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956, for wrongful withholding of a company's property after termination of employment is a continuing offence for the purpose of limitation under Chapter XXXVI of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

Analysis: The expression "continuing offence" was applied to distinguish an offence completed once and for all from one that subsists so long as the wrongful conduct continues. The statutory scheme of section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 treats wrongful obtaining, wrongful withholding, and wrongful misapplication of company property as punishable conduct, and sub-section (2) contemplates delivery up or refund of the property, indicating that the wrongful possession does not end merely on retirement or initial refusal to vacate. The limitation provisions in section 468 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 were considered in light of sections 472 and 473, with emphasis that a fresh period of limitation runs so long as the offence continues and that cognizance may still be taken in the interest of justice. On that basis, wrongful withholding of company quarters after retirement was held to continue until the property is delivered up or refunded.

Conclusion: The offence under section 630(1)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956 is a continuing offence, and the complaints were not barred by limitation. The finding of the courts below was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory offence consists of wrongful withholding of property and the wrongful state persists until restoration of the property, limitation runs from cessation of the wrongful conduct and not from the first act of withholding.

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