Company Court lacks original criminal jurisdiction; complaints under the Companies Act must be filed before the competent Magistrate.

The High Court, acting as company court, has no original criminal jurisdiction to take cognizance of complaints under the Companies Act, 1956 and try them directly. Criminal cognizance under the Code of Criminal Procedure is ordinarily taken by a Magistrate, and even sessions-triable offences require committal through the Magistrate. The Companies Act provisions on winding up and transfer of proceedings do not confer an independent power on the company court to initiate criminal prosecution. A complaint therefore cannot be entertained directly by the High Court and must be presented before the competent Magistrate, although a validly instituted proceeding may be transferred under the applicable transfer provision.

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Issues: Whether the High Court, as the company court, had original criminal jurisdiction to take cognizance of complaints under the Companies Act, 1956, and try them directly; and whether such complaints could instead be returned for presentation before the proper criminal court.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was examined to determine how cognizance of criminal offences is taken and which courts can initiate trial. Cognizance of offences is ordinarily taken by a Magistrate, and even where offences are triable by a Court of Session, committal by a Magistrate is required. The High Court has no general original criminal jurisdiction to take cognizance of offences under the Companies Act, 1956. The Companies Act provisions on winding up and transfer of proceedings do not confer an independent power on the company court to initiate criminal prosecution directly, though a pending proceeding validly instituted before the proper court may be transferred to the winding-up court under the transfer provision.

Conclusion: The High Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the complaint directly, and the complaint was liable to be returned to be filed before the competent Magistrate.

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