Territorial jurisdiction in Companies Act document-supply defaults lies where the registered office is situated and dispatch duty arises.

For complaints alleging non-supply of documents under the Companies Act, territorial jurisdiction lies where the company's registered office is situated and where the statutory duty to dispatch the documents is to be performed. On that principle, a Bangalore court could not entertain the complaint when the registered office was at Mangalore and the alleged default arose there. The proper forum was the Magistrate at Mangalore, and the complaint was to be returned for presentation before the competent court.

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Issues: Whether the complaint alleging non-supply of documents under the Companies Act could be entertained by the Bangalore court when the company's registered office was at Mangalore and the alleged default arose there.

Analysis: The relevant obligation was to furnish documents from the company's registered office in the manner contemplated by section 53 of the Companies Act, 1956. In the case of non-compliance, the cause of action arises where the registered office is situated, because that is the place from which the statutory duty to send the documents is to be performed. The governing principle was treated as settled by the Supreme Court's view that, for defaults in posting or delivering statutory documents, jurisdiction lies where the company has its registered office and from where the documents ought to have been dispatched.

Conclusion: The Bangalore court had no territorial jurisdiction to entertain the complaint; jurisdiction lay with the Magistrate at Mangalore. The petition was allowed and the complaint was directed to be returned for presentation before the proper court.

Ratio Decidendi: For offences based on failure to dispatch or serve documents under the Companies Act, territorial jurisdiction lies where the company's registered office is situated and where the statutory duty to send the documents is required to be performed.

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