Quashing complaints for non-filing of company accounts requires proof, not disputed claims of retirement from directorship.

Complaints alleging failure to file the balance-sheet and profit and loss account under the Companies Act were not liable to be quashed under section 482 CrPC merely because the accused claimed to have ceased as director. The complaints contained positive averments that the petitioner and others were directors as per the Registrar of Companies records and that statutory returns remained unfiled. Whether the petitioner had retired, whether annual general meetings were held, and whether he continued in office were disputed factual matters requiring evidence. The prior company petition did not displace the complaint allegations, and the plea that a director may have been re-elected meant the issue had to be tried, not summarily rejected.

---

---

Issues: Whether the complaints alleging non-filing of the balance-sheet and profit and loss account under section 220 of the Companies Act, 1956 could be quashed under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on the ground that the petitioner had ceased to be a director during the relevant period.

Analysis: The complaints specifically alleged that the accused, including the petitioner, were directors according to the particulars filed before the Registrar of Companies and that the statutory returns had not been filed. The assertion that the petitioner had retired from directorship depended on disputed facts, including whether annual general meetings had been held and whether he continued in office during the relevant period. Such matters required evidence and could not be presumed at the stage of quashing. The existence of a prior company petition did not by itself displace the positive averments in the complaints. The Court also noted that a director may retire and yet be re-elected, so the plea raised was one for trial rather than for summary rejection.

Conclusion: The complaints disclosed no legal infirmity warranting interference under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the petitions for quashing were not maintainable at the threshold.

---