Continuing offence doctrine applies to unpaid Provident Fund contributions, defeating the limitation bar under criminal procedure law.

Non-payment of the employer's Provident Fund contribution before the due date was treated as a continuing offence because the statutory obligation under the exemption framework and the Scheme persisted until actual compliance. The Court held that the nature of the duty, not a one-time procedural default, determined whether the breach continued from day to day, so each day of non-payment constituted a fresh violation. On that basis, the limitation bar under section 468 CrPC did not apply, while section 473 CrPC remained available where the interests of justice justified cognizance after limitation.

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Issues: Whether non-payment of the employer's contribution to the Provident Fund before the due date constitutes a continuing offence so that the period of limitation under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 does not bar prosecution.

Analysis: The offence alleged was not a mere procedural default but a failure to comply with a substantive welfare obligation under the exemption granted under section 17 of the Employees' Provident Funds and Family Pension Fund Act, 1952 and the corresponding payment requirement in paragraph 38(1) of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952. The Court distinguished cases where the default is complete once and for all, and held that the character of a continuing offence depends upon the language, nature, and purpose of the statutory obligation. Since the obligation to pay the employer's contribution subsisted day by day until compliance, each day of non-payment constituted a fresh breach. The limitation provisions in sections 468 and 472 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 were therefore applied in favour of treating the default as continuing, while section 473 was noted as an overriding provision where the interests of justice require cognizance after limitation.

Conclusion: Non-payment of the employer's contribution to the Provident Fund before the due date is a continuing offence, and the bar of limitation under section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 does not apply.

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