The
Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings against automobile
giant Hero MotoCorp, its chairman Pawan Munjal and officials in an alleged
forgery case. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the stay on the operation of
the FIR as well as the trial court order will remain in force till December 6,
the next date of hearing.
The
trial court had directed the registration of an FIR against them on a complaint
alleging that Hero MotoCorp manufactured fake bills worth Rs 5.9 crore and
obtained tax credit of over Rs 55 lakh.
The
company, its chairman and officials approached the high court challenging the
trial court's order. In the meantime, the high court asked the parties to
explore the possibility of a settlement.
The
high court said that the operation of the trial court's order and the
proceedings in the FIR shall remain stayed. Parties will explore possibilities
of a compromise. The counsel shall take instructions regarding compromise.
Senior
advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Maninder Singh, representing Hero MotoCorp, sought
quashing of the FIR and the trial court's September 20 order. They argued that
the company and the complainant were engaged in a civil battle and no
criminality was involved.
The
plea said the "criminal proceedings initiated in the case were wholly
malafide and illegal and the company and its officials named in the FIR are
getting harassed and facing threats of coercive actions besides being subjected
to humiliation in front of various governmental and non-governmental
agencies".
Following
the trial court's order, the criminal case was registered on October 5, 2023,
on a complaint by Roop Darshan Pandey, the promoter of Brains Logistics Pvt
Ltd. The complainant named MotoCorp Limited along with its three functionaries
-- principal employer Pawan Munjal, officials Vikram Sitaram Kasbekar and Hari
Prakash Gupta -- and an auditor.
Hero
MotoCorp had earlier issued a statement saying it was an old matter, and no
official has been named in the FIR. It said the complainant was a disgruntled
service provider promoted by Pandey.
The
complainant has alleged that Hero Motocorp, in collusion with Munjal and
Kasbekar, manufactured fake month-wise bills totalling Rs 5.9 crore for 2009
and 2010 and created false debit balances in its books of accounts against
Brains Logistics.
The case was registered on October 5 at Vasant Kunj
North police station under sections 463 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable
security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a
forged document), 34 (common intention), 477A (falsification of accounts), 120B
(punishment for criminal conspiracy) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of
trust) of the IPC.