Limitation in sanction-based prosecutions depends on pleading the sanction request date to justify exclusion of time.

In a prosecution for an offence punishable with fine only, the six-month limitation period under section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applied. The attempt to exclude time spent in obtaining prior sanction under section 470(3) failed because the complaint did not plead the date on which sanction was sought, making the excluded period incapable of computation with certainty. The document states that, on this basis, cognizance could not be validly taken and the limitation objection was not cured by the sanction-time plea.

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Issues: Whether the complaint alleging contravention of the investment restriction under the Companies Act was barred by limitation, and whether the period spent in obtaining prior governmental sanction could be excluded in the absence of any pleaded date showing when sanction was sought.

Analysis: The complaint was for an offence punishable with fine only, so the limitation period under section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was six months. The Court found that the alleged offence had arisen long before the complaint was filed in 2004. The complainant relied on section 470(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to exclude the time taken for obtaining sanction, but the complaint did not state when the application for sanction was made. Without that date, the period required for obtaining sanction could not be computed, and exclusion under section 470(3) was unavailable. The Court therefore held that the Magistrate could not validly take cognizance, and the summoning order suffered from non-application of mind on the issue of limitation.

Conclusion: The complaint was held to be time-barred, and the plea that limitation stood saved by exclusion of sanction time was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The proceedings were quashed because cognizance was barred by limitation and the prosecution could not bring itself within the statutory exception for exclusion of time spent in obtaining sanction.

Ratio Decidendi: In a time-barred prosecution requiring prior sanction, exclusion of the sanction period under section 470(3) is available only when the complainant pleads and proves the date on which sanction was sought, so that the requisite period can be computed with certainty.

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