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2015 (8) TMI 1521 - HC - Indian LawsOffence under Section 420 IPC and Section 5 of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 1997 - It is the specific case of the prosecution that, Helios and Viswapriya had collected deposits from public and on maturity, they failed to repay them, pursuant to which, on the complaint lodged by depositors, the cases were registered against them for the offence under the TNPID Act along with IPC offences - HELD THAT:- In Section 45-I(f), the expression "which has as its principal business the receiving of deposits, under any scheme or arrangement or in any other manner" is somewhat similar to the definition of the word "Financial Establishment" in TNPID Act. One difference is, the word "principal" is not there before the word "business" in Section 2(3) of TNPID Act. From an analysis of these two Sections, it is clear that, the Legislature wanted to bring into the net of TNPID both Non-Banking Financial Companies and incorporated Companies which are into the business of receiving deposits within the purview of TNPID Act. It is not necessary that an incorporated Company should be a Non-Banking Financial Company for being in the business of receiving deposits. - Though it is clear to me that the definition of the word "Financial Establishment' in TNPID Act does not admit into its fold all Companies irrespective of their nature of business, and only Companies which are into the business of receiving deposits, yet I would also like to address this issue from the perspective of the Philosophy of Penal Law. In Democratic Republican form of Governments, the entire edifice of Penal Law is built upon the Rousseauean Philosophy "that man is naturally good and anything that is not natural has corrupted us from this natural State." When Rousseau propounded this theory, as usual cynics ridiculed it as merely a romantic hypothesis. He has been proved right by later commentators. Definitions in Penal Law are not intended for semantic debates by trained legal minds, but it is intended for the lay and the laity to understand and act. If an ordinary person reads the definition of the word "Financial Establishment", he will have no doubt in his mind that if he carries on the business of receiving deposits and fails to repay the amount, he will have to face penal consequences. For a man who is not into the business of receiving deposits, but into the business of ordinary manufacturing, this definition will not and should not instill fear, for that would be deleterious and counter productive to the progress of the Society - an ordinary manufacturer or a Trading Company, say in jaggery, cannot be prosecuted under the TNPID Act for default in paying its depositor. They can be prosecuted under the Companies Act. It would never have been the intention of the Legislature to give unbridled power to the police to destroy legitimate business in this Country and reduce our countrymen to penury. Petition dismissed.
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