Continuing offence doctrine bars limitation where company filing defaults attract daily liability and ongoing compliance duties.

Failure to file balance sheet and profit and loss account within the prescribed time was treated as a continuing offence because the statutory scheme imposed liability for each day of non-compliance and was aimed at securing ongoing compliance. On that footing, the limitation bar under the Criminal Procedure Code for a completed offence did not apply. The plea of limitation was also not accepted when raised at the end of trial after evidence had been recorded. The prosecution challenge to quashing therefore failed.

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Issues: Whether the default in filing the balance sheet and profit and loss account under the Companies Act was a continuing offence so as to exclude the bar of limitation under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Analysis: The obligation to file the balance sheet and profit and loss account within the prescribed time was examined in light of the statutory scheme of Sections 220(1) and 220(3) of the Companies Act, 1956, which links the punishment for default to Section 162 of the same Act and contemplates a fine for every day during which the default continues. Applying the principles governing continuing offences, the Court held that the nature of the default, the language of the statute, and the object of the provision all indicated that the failure to file the required accounts was not a completed one-time lapse but a continuing wrong. The plea of limitation was also raised only at the fag end of the trial, after evidence had been recorded, and was therefore not accepted at that stage.

Conclusion: The default was held to be a continuing offence, and the limitation bar under Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 did not apply. The application to quash the prosecution was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory default is made punishable in terms indicating liability for every day the default continues, and the object of the provision is to secure continuing compliance, the offence is a continuing one and the limitation bar for a completed offence does not apply.

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