Wrongful retention of company quarters after service ends falls within company property protection, and authorised attorneys may file complaints.
Section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 applies to wrongful retention of company property after cessation of employment, even where the occupant asserts a tenancy claim, if the premises were allotted by virtue of service and the evidence does not establish any independent contractual right. The conviction and direction to vacate the company quarters were upheld. A complaint may also be instituted through a duly authorised power of attorney holder where company authorisation and records show specific authority to prosecute proceedings, and the absence of personal filing by a director does not invalidate the complaint. The revisions therefore failed, subject to time granted for compliance with eviction.
Issues: (i) whether the complaint for wrongful withholding of company quarters under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 was maintainable when filed through a power of attorney holder, and (ii) whether the petitioners had committed the offence under section 630 by retaining the company quarters after cessation of employment despite their claim of tenancy and absence of a written allotment contract.
Issue (i): Whether the complaint was maintainable when filed through a power of attorney holder.
Analysis: A company acts through human agency and may authorise a person under its common seal and board resolution to institute proceedings on its behalf. Section 48 of the Companies Act, 1956 recognises execution by an attorney in respect of company acts. The objection that the complaint was not filed personally by a director or chairman was rejected because the authorisation conferred specific power to prosecute legal proceedings for the company. The absence of the power of attorney holder as a witness did not vitiate the complaint where the authorisation and the company records established due authority.
Conclusion: The complaint was held to be maintainable.
Issue (ii): Whether the petitioners were rightly convicted under section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 for retaining the company quarters.
Analysis: Section 630 penalises wrongful withholding of company property and authorises delivery up of such property. The provision applies even where the employee claims continued possession on the basis of tenancy, if the premises were allotted by virtue of employment and are retained after termination of service. The Court relied on the statutory object of speedy recovery of company property and on the concurrent findings of the courts below that the quarters belonged to the company and were occupied because of service. The absence of a convincing contrary contractual arrangement and the plea of independent tenancy were not accepted on the evidence.
Conclusion: The conviction and direction to vacate the quarters were upheld.
Final Conclusion: The revisions failed on merits, and the concurrent orders of conviction and delivery of possession were sustained, while time was granted for compliance with the eviction direction.
Ratio Decidendi: Section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956 reaches wrongful retention of company property by an employee or a person claiming through the employee after termination of employment, and a duly authorised power of attorney holder may validly institute the complaint for the company.
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