What can an Advocate do, when he finds that the opponent party has committed a crime under section 193 of IPC in a proceeding going in NCLT, to make NCLT take cognizance of the offence under section 193 of IPC???
Saurabh Kumar Mishra 01 April 2021
What can an Advocate do, when he finds that the opponent party has committed a crime under section 193 of IPC in a proceeding going in NCLT, to make NCLT take cognizance of the offence under section 193 of IPC???
Ishaan 01 May 2021
Sub-section (4) of Section 424 of the Companies Act, 2013 states that all the proceedings before the Tribunal (NCLT) or the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of Sections 193 and Section 228, and for Section 196 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The provisions of Sections 195(1) and 340 of CrPC state that the courts are entitled to hold a preliminary inquiry for offences committed, such as perjury, that are committed before it.
These provisions appear to provide a clear answer to the issue as the NCLT and NCLAT are under the definition of “courts” within the ambit of Section 195 CrPC and therefore, in an instance where a litigant perjures himself before the NCLT or the NCLAT, there can be legal consequences for the same.
Although, Section 195(1)(b)(i) also explicitly states that such a court (NCLT or the NCLAT) cannot take cognizance of crimes such as perjury.
The provisions of Section 340(1) r/w Section 340(4) CrPC state that a “court” (NCLT or the NCLAT) may, upon submission and after conducting a preliminary inquiry, make a complaint (in writing) to the First-Class Magistrate concerned to take appropriate steps as he would generally take in the ordinary course of a trial.
Only the perusal of these provisions and a mere reading of the same would only propose that the NCLT and the NCLAT do have the requisite jurisdiction to entertain a offence of perjury that has been committed before the court.
However, these provisions also make it very clear that the NCLT and NCLAT do not have the required jurisdiction to give judgments on these matters. They do, however, have the required jurisdiction to take up such a matter before the concerned First-Class Magistrate, who has the necessary jurisdiction to hear the matter and give judgments regarding the same.
Cases for reference -
1. Lalji Haridas State of Maharashtra, 1964 6SCR 70)
2. 2018 SCC OnLine Bom
3. 2106 (2018) 15 SCC 240