Anticipatory Bail Denied to Director for Filing False Statements | HC

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anticipatory bail under Companies Act

Case Details: Vijay Shukla v. Serious Fraud Investigation Officer - [2025] 175 taxmann.com 761 (HC-Punjab & Haryana)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

  • Arun Kumar Tyagi, J.
  • Vikram Chaudhri, Sr. Adv., Gautam Avasthi & Rahil Mahajan, Advs. for the Petitioner.
  • Satya Pal Jain, Addl. Solicitor General, Alok Jain, Sr. Panel Counsel & Rupinder Singh Jhand, Addl. A.G. for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, ACCSL, a multi-state credit Co-operative Society, was registered by one M. ACCSL accepted deposits from its members, who were marginally low to middle-income group individuals. After collecting money from the public, ‘M’ and his family members and associates created a large number of Companies under the aegis of AGCL. The funds deposited with ACCSL were allegedly siphoned off through the Controlled Undertaking (CUIs) of AGCL.

When the matter came to the attention of the Central Government, it ordered an investigation into the affairs of the said companies through the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) via the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

During investigation it was found that though companies could not be a member of Credit Co-operative Society, in terms of section 25 of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, one CUI of AGCL, FTP, had fraudulently/illegally obtained loan of Rs. 14.75 crores from ACCSL during period from financial year 2012-2013 to financial year 2016-17. Part of the loan secured during the enforcement of the Companies Act, 1956, remained unpaid on the commencement of the Companies Act, 2013.

Though, loan obtained by FTP from ACCSL fell under definition of ‘deposit’, but the petitioner, director of FTP knowingly signed and filed false/wrong statements by mentioning funds received from ACCSL as loan from financial institution, thereby committed offence under Section 448 punishable under Section 447 of the Companies Act, 2013.

High Court Held

The High Court held that in view of above serious nature of economic offences involved, nature of accusation against and role attributed to the petitioner who was alleged to have signed and filed financial statements which were false in material particulars and also omitted material facts, there was no reasonable ground to believe that the petitioner had not committed offence under Section 448 punishable under Section 447 of the Act and, therefore, the petitioner did not deserve grant of anticipatory bail.

List of Cases Reviewed

  • Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India: 2018(2) R.C.R. (Criminal) 232
  • Jainam Rathod v. State of Haryana (P&HHC): 2020 (1) RCR (Criminal) 241
  • Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India: 2018(2) R.C.R.(Criminal) 232
  • CRM-M 28490 of 2015 titled as Dalip Singh Mann and another v. Niranjan Singh, Assistant Director, Director of Enforcement, Govt. of India decided on 01.10.2015 and CRM-M 28452 of 2015 titled as Gurpreet Kaur @ Gurmeet Kaur v. Niranjan Singh, Assistant Director, Director of Enforcement, Govt. of India decided on 01.10.2015
  • Ranjit singh Brahmajeet singh Sharma v. State of Maharashtra Another: 2005 (5) SCC 294 (Para 50) distinguished.

List of Cases Referred to

  • Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India [2017] 87 taxmann.com 257/145 SCL 96 (SC) (para 6)
  • Jainam Rathod v. State of Haryana [2020] 119 taxmann.com 272 (Punjab & Haryana) (para 7)
  • Dalip Singh Mann v. Niranjan Singh, Asstt. Director, Director of Enforcement, Govt of India [CRM No. M-28490 of 2015, dated 1-10-2015] (para 9)
  • Gurpreet Kaur @ Gurmeet Kaur v. Niranjan Singh, Asstt. Director, Director of Enforcement, Govt of India [CRM-M 28452 of 2015, dated 1-10-2015] (para 9)
  • Ranjitsing Brahmajeetsingh Sharma v. State of Maharashtra (2005) 5 SCC 294 (para 10)
  • Dataram Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2018) 3 SCC 22 (para 13)
  • Court on its own motion v. CBI [2006] 4 RCR (CRL) 206 (para 15)
  • Sanjay Chaturvedi v. State 2007 (1) R.C.R. (Criminal) 822 (para 15)
  • Bharat Chaudhary v. State of Bihar 2003 (4) R.C.R. (Criminal) 716 (para 16)
  • Sushila Aggarwal v. State (NCT of Delhi) 2020 (1) RCR (Criminal) 337 (para 16)
  • P. Chidambaram v. Directorate of Enforcement [2019] 109 taxmann.com 57/156 SCL 104 (SC) (para 21)
  • Ankush Kumar @ Sonu v. State of Punjab 2018 SCC Online Punj. & Har. 1259 (para 21)
  • Serious Fraud Investigation Office v. Neeraj Singal [2018] 99 taxmann.com 60/150 SCL 347 (SC) (para 21)
  • Serious Fraud Investigation Office v. Nitin Johari [2019] 109 taxmann.com 224/156 SCL 500 (SC) (para 21)
  • Serious Fraud Investigation Office v. Rahul Modi [2019] 103 taxmann.com 408/153 SCL 474 (SC) (para 21)
  • Deepak Shrimati v. Union of India [Writ Petition (s) (Criminal) No (s). 263 of 2019, dated 23-9-2019 (para 21)
  • Hari Sankaran v. Union of India [Writ Petition (s) (Criminal) No (s).107 & 108 of 2019, dated 10-4-2019] (para 21)
  • Ramesh C. Bawa v. Union of India [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 107 of 2019, dated 10-4-2019] (para 21)
  • Arun Sharma v. Union of India (2016) 3 RCR (Criminal) 883 (DB) (para 22)
  • Pankaj Jain v. Union of India (2018) 5 SCC 743 (para 22)
  • Satpal Singh v. State of Punjab (2018) 13 SCC 813 (para 22)
  • HDFC Bank Ltd. v. J. J. Mannan @ J.M. John Paul (2010) 1 SCC 679 (para 22)
  • Nitin Johari v. Serious Fraud Investigation Office [2020] 113 taxmann.com 561/159 SCL 84 (Delhi) (para 24)
  • Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy v. CBI (2013) 7 SCC 439 (para 25)
  • Rohit Tandon v. Enforcement Directorate [2017] 87 taxmann.com 260/145 SCL 1 (SC) (para 25)
  • State of Gujarat v. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal 1987 taxmann.com 612 (SC) (para 25)
  • Raj Kumar Modi v. Serious Fraud Investigation Office 2019 SCC Online P & H 4987 (para 26)
  • Vijay Shukla v. Union of India [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 239 of 2019, dated 19-9-2019] (para 29)
  • Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab (1994) 3 SCC 569 (para 35)
  • Union of India v. Niyazuddin Sk. 2017 (4) R.C.R. (Criminal) 644 (para 39)
  • State of Kerala v. Rajesh 2020 (1) RC.R (Criminal) 818 (para 39)
  • Gautam Kundu v. Manoj Kumar, Asstt. Director [2015] 64 taxmann.com 291/133 SCL 341 (SC) (para 41)
  • State of Bihar v. Amit Kumar (2017) 13 SCC 751 (para 41)
  • Union of India v. Rattan Mallik @ Habul 2009 (1) RC.R (Criminal) 938 (para 43).

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Author: Taxmann

Taxmann Publications has a dedicated in-house Research & Editorial Team. This team consists of a team of Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Lawyers. This team works under the guidance and supervision of editor-in-chief Mr Rakesh Bhargava.

The Research and Editorial Team is responsible for developing reliable and accurate content for the readers. The team follows the six-sigma approach to achieve the benchmark of zero error in its publications and research platforms. The team ensures that the following publication guidelines are thoroughly followed while developing the content:

  • The statutory material is obtained only from the authorized and reliable sources
  • All the latest developments in the judicial and legislative fields are covered
  • Prepare the analytical write-ups on current, controversial, and important issues to help the readers to understand the concept and its implications
  • Every content published by Taxmann is complete, accurate and lucid
  • All evidence-based statements are supported with proper reference to Section, Circular No., Notification No. or citations
  • The golden rules of grammar, style and consistency are thoroughly followed
  • Font and size that's easy to read and remain consistent across all imprint and digital publications are applied