J.J.Irani & Anr vs State Of Jharkhand

3. The only question that arises in these appeals is whether the complaint made by the Inspector of Factories that the appellants have allegedly committed offences was made within three months of the date on which the alleged commission of the offence came to the knowledge of the Inspector, as required by Section 106 of the Factories Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’). At the relevant time the appellant No. 1 - Dr. J.J. Irani was “Occupier” and the appellant No. 2 - Mr. P.N. Roy was “Manager” of the factory within the meaning of the Act.

4. On 3rd March, 1989, the Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) celebrated the 150 th birthday of Mr. J.N. Tata, as Foundation Day. They constructed temporary Pandals at the main gate of the Factory premises. All of a sudden a fire broke out and two of the Pandals, where guests were seated, were badly gutted. There was panic due to the fire. As a result 18 to 20 persons died on the spot and a larger number were admitted with burn injuries at the Tata Hospital, some of whom later succumbed to their injuries. The injured and the dead were mainly employees of TISCO, its officers and their family members.

5. As required by Section 88(1)1 of the Act read with Rule 96 of the Bihar Factories Rules, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Rules’) formal notice of intimation of the accident was given to the Inspector of Factories. In pursuance of the Notice on 5 th and 6th March, 1989, the Chief Inspector of Factories of the then State of Bihar and the Deputy Chief Inspector of Factories, Jamshedpur, conducted a preliminary investigation. These Officers submitted a Report to the Commissioner of Labour, Patna on 08.03.1989. Before submitting the Report a preliminary inquiry was conducted, photographs of the Pandals and other affected areas were taken, Pandals were measured, and distances between Pandals and Roads were also measured. A list of those dead and injured was prepared and the cause of the accident was gone into and ascertained. Apparently, the cause was a high powered cracker fired on the occasion, which fell on roof of one of the Pandals made of combustible material, and started the blaze. The officers also determined the factors that prevented the stopping of the fire, such as the narrowness of the pathways and the distance of the fire hydrants from the place of occurrence and the seating arrangement because of 1 Section 88 requires the authority, who receives the Notice, to make an inquiry into the occurrence within one month of the receipt of the Notice.

11. The Respondent – State claims that the Inspector of Factories, who filed the complaints, came to know of the commission of the offences on 23.04.1990, when the Report of the Committee, constituted under Section 90 of the Act, was received by him. According to the appellants, who are accused, by virtue of the Occupier and Manager of the Factory within the premises of which the accident occurred, the complaint is clearly barred by the limitation of three months provided by Section 106 of the Act because the Inspector of Factories had knowledge of the commission of the offence as early as 05.03.1989 when he conducted the preliminary investigation into the accident between 5th and 6th March, 1989 along with the Chief Inspector of Factories and Dy. Chief Inspector of Factories, Jamshedpur. In any case, he had been directed to carry out an intensive investigation, and having been inducted into the Committee under Section 90 of the Act on 8.3.1989, he knew of the alleged commission of the offence much earlier. According to the Respondent – State the copy of the inquiry report and the Government’s letter were handed over to the complainant on 23.04.1990 by the Chief Inspector of Factories under cover of 7 Page 7 letter dated 21.04.1990, and therefore 23.04.1990 must be taken as the date on which the complainant came to know about the commission of the offence alleged against the Occupier and Manager of the Factory. It was argued also before the High Court that he was directed by the letter of the Government to file a complaint for that prosecution and accordingly he filed the complaint on 7.5.1990. According to the respondent, the complaint has been filed well within three months from 23.4.1990 on 7.5.1990.

18. Chief Justice Chandrachud (Retd.) eventually assessed the compensation in November, 2000 for an aggregate sum of Rs.5.47 crores. Finally, this Court disposed of the Writ Petition on 16.8.2001 [reported as (2001) 8 SCC 197] after observing that Criminal Revision Petitions had been stayed by its earlier Order dated 15.12.1993. This Court then enhanced the aggregated compensation amount by adding a certain amount on compassionate grounds. The Writ Petition was accordingly disposed of.

20. In the result, appeals are allowed. The Judgment and Order of the High Court dated 15.6.2007 is set aside and Criminal complaints are dismissed.