Special Court cognizance under depositors protection law allowed without committal; discharge based on property attachment provision unsustainable.

Section 7 of the Chhattisgarh Protection of Depositors Interest Act, 2005 concerns attachment of property and safeguarding depositor interests; it does not control the institution of criminal prosecution or require a charge-sheet to be filed only by the competent authority. Section 13 applies warrant-trial procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and permits the Special Court to take cognizance without committal. On this plain reading, the trial court's discharge of the accused based on Section 7 was an incorrect interpretation of the Act, and the discharge order was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Section 7 of the Chhattisgarh Protection of Depositors Interest Act, 2005 required the charge-sheet to be filed by the competent authority for prosecution, and whether the Special Court could take cognizance of the offence under Section 13 without committal of the case.

Analysis: Section 7 was construed as a provision dealing with attachment of property and the procedure for securing depositors' interests. It did not govern the institution of criminal prosecution or mandate that the charge-sheet be filed only by the competent authority. Section 13 specifically provided that the procedure for warrant trials under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 would apply and that the Special Court could take cognizance of the offence without the case being committed to it. On a plain reading of the statute, the trial court's reliance on Section 7 to discharge the accused was held to be a interpretation of the Act.

Conclusion: The discharge order was unsustainable, and the respondents could be proceeded against under the Act, 2005 before the Special Court.

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