A local court in Haryana has dismissed an application for discharge filed by Ramesh Sanka, former CEO of Real Estate developer IREO Residences Company Pvt Ltd, in a case related to stealing of documents and criminal breach of trust.

The orders were passed by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class in Gurugram, Vinay Kakran on November 5 on a petition filed by Sanka.

The court observed that in view of the statement made by the accused and other material available on record, a prima facie case has been made out for framing of charges against the accused for either theft of the documents or for criminal breach of trust in respect to the same.

Appearing for the accused, Advocate Vishal Gupta contended that the alleged stolen/retained documents were already in public domain and he accused took them from various government departments like HRERA, IT Department and through RTI.

The court noted that whether these documents were in public domain as alleged or not, cannot be enquired into and finally adjudicated at this stage of framing of charge. This is a defence, which is to be taken by the accused during trial and ought to be proved by him through cross-examination or through leading his own evidence, it added.

The court said that at this stage, it has no option than to rely upon the allegations made in the final report and to proceed according to them.

The JMFC Gurugram took in view the final report, including the witness statement of the accused/applicant during arbitration proceedings, wherein he had allegedly himself stated that, “other documents of the company are internal IREO documents which were retained by me”.

It said police had hidden very important facts in the FIR that a similar complaint of alleged stealing of documents was already inquired by the Gurugram Police and closed in the month of September 2018. A closure report was even attested by the Commissioner of Police Gurugram, it added.

The court further dismissed as misconceived the argument that the applicant/accused cannot be treated as servant of the complainant company.

It said the accused/applicant was CEO of the complainant company. A CEO is a salaried employee. Unless proved otherwise, prima facie it would be safe to assume that he acted as a servant of the company.
A CEO also acts as an agent of company in dealings on behalf of the company. So, he may also have been acting as an agent of the company, it added.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Rahul Kadian, along with Advocate K. Dang, appeared for the complainant.

(Case title: State vs Ramesh Sanka)

A lawyer in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, who has been in jail since February 9 has moved a bail petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Indore Bench. The advocate, Vijay Singh Yadav, is said to have congratulate the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) on her birthday on January 28 via e-mail late at 1.11 am and a speed post was also send to the Magistrate.

On February 8, an FIR has been lodged against Yadav at Station Road Police Station. Ratlam District Court, System Officer, Mahendra Singh Chauhan lodged a complaint to the police. Cases have been registered against the lawyer under sections of forgery and IT Act for the purpose of cheating, forgery and damage to reputation.

According to the complaint, accused Yadav downloaded a photo from the JMFC’s Facebook profile without her permission and e-mailed it to her as a birthday wish. The lawyer is said to have written an indecent message in the e-mail. Yadav had also sent birthday greetings to the JMFC through speed post.

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On February 13, the lower court dismissed Yadav’s bail plea. After this, his family members approached the Indore bench. In the bail petition, Vijay Singh Yadav himself has filed a separate private complaint against the JMFC before the Chief Judicial Magistrate. The lawyer claimed in the complaint that he had congratulated her birthday as a social worker and had therefore downloaded the photo from Google and used it as a creative greeting.

Yadav’s bail petition is to be heard next on March 3.