27-apeal-613-18.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 613 OF 2018 Employees State Insurance Corporation …Appellant V/s. M/s. Shree Enterprises & Ors. ...Respondents. ………….. Ms Seema Chopde for the Appellant Ms S.S. Kaushik, APP for the Respondent/State. ………….. CORAM : N.R. BORKAR, J. DATE : 16.09.2026. P.C. : 1. This appeal takes exception to the judgment and order dated 30.03.2015 passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate, 25th Court, Mazgaon at Sewree, Mumbai in C.C. No. 09/EW/2004. 2. By the impugned judgment and order, the learned Magistrate has acquitted the respondent Nos. 1 and 2/original accused for the offence punishable under Section 85(a) read with Section 85(i)(b) of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948. 3. The report received from the concerned police station shows that the respondent No. 1 establishment does not exist at the given address and respondent No. 2, who is the proprietor of respondent No. 1, is not traceable. Dinesh S. Sherla 1/2 27-apeal-613-18.odt 4. The appeal is pending since 2018 for effecting service upon the respondents. 5. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that as this Court has admitted the appeal, the same be heard on merits. However, the appeal against acquittal cannot be decided on merits in absence of the accused for the reason that, if this Court decides to reverse the judgment of acquittal into conviction, the accused will have to be heard on the point of sentence. In absence of the accused, the same is not possible. Apart from it, deciding the appeal on merit, when it is not known, whether the accused is alive or not will be waste of judicial time. The appeal, therefore, will have to be dismissed. In the result, the following order is passed ORDER The Appeal is dismissed. However, liberty is granted to restore the appeal in case, the respondents are traced out. [N.R.BORKAR, J.] Dinesh S. Sherla 2/2