The Bombay High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, former Deputy MD Dr. Nachiket Mor, legal department member Vasudeo Kulkarni, and Pune branch manager Asavari Patankar in a case alleging evasion of octroi on gold bullion imports into Pune city limits. The complaint against ICICI Bank, however, will proceed before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Pune.
Octroi is a local tax levied by municipal corporations on goods brought into city limits for use, consumption, or sale. Under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC) Act, 1949, failure to pay octroi attracts penalties under Section 398, while Section 401 provides for vicarious liability of company officials if they are shown to be responsible for the offence.
Justice Dr. Neela Gokhale, delivering judgment on December 8, observed that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) failed to make “any role specifically attributed to any of the Petitioner Nos. 2 to 5” in its complaint. “Although the statutory regime of the BPMC Act attracts the doctrine of vicarious liability, prosecution against the Petitioner Nos.2 to 5 cannot continue in the absence of any averment ascribing a specific role attributed to them. There is no such pleading in the entire complaint,” the court said.
