In Brief
Office bearers of an association (President, Secretary, and Treasurer) were charged with misappropriating Rs. 80 lakh in association funds by opening unauthorized bank accounts and falsifying records. The High Court quashed the criminal proceedings treating the dispute as merely personal and subject to settlement. The Supreme Court held that misappropriation of organizational funds by fiduciaries affects the collective interest of the association and its members, and cannot be characterized as a purely personal dispute. The Court distinguished this case from civil commercial disputes between individuals and reinstated the criminal case, directing continuation of the trial and further investigation into the roles of other officers involved."
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