2023 (7) TMI 420

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....M.P. Nos. 3258 And 6974 of 2021 - -<br>Corporate Laws<br>Honourable Mr. Justice Sunder Mohan For the Petitioners : Mr. K.M. Aasim Shehzad for M/s. B.F.S. Legal. For the Respondent : Mr. A.R. Ramanathan ORDER The petition is to quash the complaint filed for the alleged offence under Section 452 of the Companies Act, 2013. 2. It is alleged in the complaint that the petitioners were employed wit....

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....urier on 12.08.2021. The respondent refused to take delivery of the laptops. Thereafter, the petitioners sent it once again on 24.08.2021, which was received by the respondent. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the offence under Section 452 of the Act is quasi criminal. The said provision, which is pari materia with Section 630 of the Companies Act, 1956, was intended to provi....

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....alry with the respondent and had filed this complaint. 4. The learned counsel for the respondent, per contra, submitted that the petitioners had joined a rival company. The laptops contained technical knowledge and software, the company&#39;s trade secrets and intellectual property; and the petitioners ought to have returned the laptops on the date of resignation, and their withholding of the pro....

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....ith imprisonment and fine. In the instant case, the petitioners admittedly delivered the property said to have been withheld by them. The respondent cannot refute the communications and the receipt of the laptops. From the facts and circumstances, it cannot be said that the petitioners had wrongfully withheld the property. The Honourable Supreme Court in Lalita Jalan and Another Vs. Bombay Gas Co.....