A large corporate fraud was detected in a company BNT Ltd. involving manipulation of financial statements and diversion of funds. The matter was investigated by the Serious Fraud Investigation Officer (SFIO) under the Co

Under Section 436(1)(d) of the Companies Act, 2013, Special Courts are expressly empowered to take cognizance of offences without requiring committal proceedings. Section 436(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [replaced by Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)]- all offences specified under section 435(1) shall be triable only by the Special Court established for the area in which the registered office of the company in relation to which the offence is committed or where there are more Special Courts than one for such area, by such one of them as may be specified in this behalf by the High Court concerned; where a person accused of, or suspected of the commission of, an offence under this Act is forwarded to a Magistrate under sub-section (2) or sub-section (2A) of section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, such Magistrate may authorize the detention of such person in such custody as he thinks fit for a period not exceeding 15 days in the whole where such Magistrate is a Judicial Magistrate and 7 days in the whole where such Magistrate is an Executive Magistrate. However, where such Magistrate considers that the detention of such person upon or before the expiry of the period of detention is unnecessary, he shall order such person to be forwarded to the Special Court having jurisdiction; the Special Court may exercise, in relation to the person forwarded to it under clause (b), the same power which a Magistrate having jurisdiction to try a case may exercise under section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in relation to an accused person who has been forwarded to him under that section; and a Special Court may, upon perusal of the police report of the facts constituting an offence under this Act or upon a complaint in that behalf, take cognizance of that offence without the accused being committed to it for trial. When trying an offence under this Act, a Special Court may also try an offence other than an offence under this Act with which the accused may, under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 be charged at the same trial. In view of above, special court can directly take cognizance of the offences under the Companies Act, 2013 without committal by a Magistrate.