TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (8) TMI 1713
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....en assailed. Petitioner has been arrayed as an accused person along with others in the instant prosecution on the allegation that as a chartered accountant he had been employed by co-accused Iltush Ahammed, his wife Smt. Taijunnehar Bibi, brother Sri Noor Jamal and brother-in-law Sri Aynal Hoque to prepare projected financial statements in collusion with Sri Atanu Kumar Mitra, senior manager of Indian Overseas Bank, Berhampore Branch for obtaining cash-credit facilities such as OCC, term loans etc. from the said branch on the strength of fraud and fabricated documents. It has also been alleged that such loans were advanced to the firms of the aforesaid accused persons by the said manager in violation of the procedure laid down by the bank ....
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....s for enhancing cash credit and other facilities submitted before the principal accused, Atanu Kr. Mitra, the senior manager, exposing his deep rooted involvement in the aforesaid fraudulent transaction. Accordingly, in conclusion of investigation, police report was filed against the petitioner and the other accused persons under sections 120B/419/420/467/468/471 I.P.C. and under sections 11, 12, 13(2)/13(i)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Petitioner prayed for discharge before the trial Court on the premise that he had merely acted in his professional capacity and had no role to play in the alleged conspiracy between the borrowers and the bank manager. It was his further case that the Committee constituted under the Chartere....
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....and Mr. Ali appearing for the CBI submitted that the findings of the Disciplinary Committee were restricted to the professional conduct of the petitioner in his capacity as a tax auditor also. He strongly contested the finding of the committee that the scope of prosecution vis-à-vis the role of the petitioner was not restricted to mere certification of nature of business of the borrowers alone. On the other hand, it appears from the materials collected during investigation that the petitioner as co-conspirator was entrusted with the duty of preparing false and bogus estimated projected financial statements for seeking enhancement of cash credit limits and had even written loan applications on behalf of the borrowers for such purpose.....
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....nding limits thereby causing wrongful loss to the bank. It has also come to light that the petitioner was acting as an agent of the accused borrowers and not as a bona fide professional. His role was not restricted to mere certification or preparation of projected financial statements but he had even written the loan applications on behalf of the accused borrowers on the strength of which the financial facilities were fraudulently extended. It is true that the Disciplinary Committee had exonerated the petitioner from the allegation of professional misconduct under the provisions of Chartered Accountants Act. The reasoning adopted by the Disciplinary Committee was essentially founded on the premise that the petitioner had not been appointed....
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....l prosecution. It is equally well settled that the departmental proceeding or for that matter criminal cases have to be decided only on the basis of evidence adduced therein. Truthfulness of the evidence in the criminal case can be judged only after the evidence is adduced therein and the criminal case can not be rejected on the basis of the evidence in the departmental proceeding or the report of the Inquiry Officer based on those evidence. 25. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the exoneration in the departmental proceeding ipso facto would not result into the quashing of the criminal prosecution. We hasten to add, however, that if the prosecution against an accused is solely based on a finding in a proceeding and that finding is se....
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....ence, I am of the opinion that no reliance could be placed on the findings of the Committee to negate the substantial materials on record which give rise to a strong suspicion as to the involvement of the petitioner in the alleged offences. Accordingly, I am of the opinion that the prayer for discharge of the petitioner from the instant case was rightly turned down. The petitioner, however, shall be at liberty to raise all just defences in the course of trial of the instant case in accordance with law. It is made clear that the findings recorded by me shall not have any bearing at the subsequent stage of the trial which needless to mention, shall be decided on the basis of the evidence adduced by the parties without being swayed by the ob....