Calcutta High Court quashes criminal case against Audi India officials for car's brake fail

The Calcutta High Court recently quashed a criminal case against senior officials of luxury car makers Audi India who were booked after a buyer complained that the vehicle purchased suffered brake failure on the highway [Joe King, Head, Audi India & Anr v Patton International Limited]. .Justice Rai Chattopadhyay said Audi India’s chief, or the head of the company’s customer service, cannot be held personally liable for inducement, fraud or cheating for such failure. “The allegation of inducement, fraud or cheating by way of alleged false misrepresentation through the sales promotion and advertisement are the company’s policies implemented through the offices of the respective petitioners. The sale proceeds have also been credited with the company itself. That since in the criminal law the concept of vicarious liability is an unknown phenomena unless the statute itself creates such legal fiction, therefore, such liability could not have been ladened on the director or the official of the company who is not charged directly for commission of an offence, without making the company itself as an accused person,” the Court said. It said that it would be a gross abuse of the Court’s process if the criminal case proceeds any further. “That is for the reasons as discussed above and the allegations against the petitioners being so absurd and inherently improbable that on the basis of the same no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused person. In that view of the fact, the Court finds the complaint to be manifestly attended with mala fide and malice, to turn the grievance of a dissatisfied consumer may be, towards baseless charges of criminal offence against the present petitioners,” the Court said. .Audi India’s head, its chief of customer service in India, the Chief Operating Officer of Audi Kolkata and the Managing Director of its authorised dealership in the city had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the criminal case against them. The Audi Q5 car was bought by a company named Patton International Limited for over ₹50 lakh in August 2014 and it came with a manufacturer’s warranty of two years. In November next year, when the company’s owner and two other industrialists were travelling in the vehicle, it suffered a brake failure. Patton International filed a complaint against the Audi officials under Sections 34 (joint liability), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 418 and 420 (cheating) of The Indian Penal Code, 1860.It was argued that the faulty brake system in the vehicle had rendered the car not at par with the promises of safety features advertised by the manufacturer and this amounted to cheating. .After considering the case, the Court said the offences of cheating was not made out against Audi officials. “In such view of the fact, the Court finds that further proceedings against the petitioners, pursuant to the instant complaint would amount to gross abuse of the process of the Court and the same is liable to be quashed by the Court in exercise of its inherent power under section 482 of the CrPC,” the Bench concluded. It, therefore, allowed the plea. .Senior Advocate Sandipan Ganguly along with Khaitan & Co Partner Nandini Khaitan and advocates Somopriyo Chowdhury and Pratik Shanu appeared for the petitioners. The complainant-company was represented by advocates Satadru Lahir and Vinay Joshi. .[Read Judgment]