# 6 51 RAM RATIAN GUPTA v. DIRECTOR OF ENFORCEMENT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE REGULATION, AND ANOTHER

- **Citation:** [1966] 1 S.C.R. 651
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1965-08-30
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 890 of 1964
- **Bench:** K. SUBBA RAo, J. R. Mudholkar, R. S. Bachawat
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/6-51-ram-ratian-gupta-v-director-of-enforcement-foreign-exchange-regulation-and-3569
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (7 of
1947), s. 4(1) and (3)-
Scope of.
The appellant visited Far Eastern countries during the years 1951 to
1956 after obtaining from the Government of India the necessa:ry foreign
exchange for the purpose of meeting his expenditure dnring his tour. He
deposited the unspent part of the foreign exchange in different branches
of the Chartered Bank in those countries.
The Director, Enforcement
Directorate, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, took proceedings under
s. 19(2) of the Act and found him guilty of contravening s. 4(1) and
(3). The order was confirmed on appeal by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Appellate Board.
In the appeal to this Court.
HELD : (i) The appellant could not be held to
have contravened
the provi•ions of s. 4(1). [654 F]
To attract s. 4(1), the appellant should have lent foreign &change
to a person who was not an authorised
dealer.
The Bank, no doubt,
was not an authorised dealer, but, when a person deposits free currency
in the current account of a bank in order to draw it whenever necessary
for the purpose for which it was given, it is not possible to hold that he
enters into a contract of loan
with the bank,
within the meaning of
s. 4(1). Ordinarily a deposit of an amount in the current account of a
bank creates a debt, but it need not necessarily involve a contract
of
loan. [653 E; 654 C, D-EJ
Shanti Prasad Jain v. Director of Enforcement, [1963] 2 S.C.R. 294,
followed.
(ii) The tribunals were right in holding that the appellant had contravened s. 4(3). [655 A]
Unde·r this sub-section, the appellant should have sold the unspent
foreign exchange to an authorised dealer without delay.
Since he had
kept the amount in the current account of various branches of the Bank
for a number of years, he was guilty of contravening the provision. [654 H;
655 A]

## Text

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6 51
RAM RATIAN GUPTA
v.
DIRECTOR OF ENFORCEMENT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE
REGULATION, AND ANOTHER
August 30, 1965
[K. SUBBA RAo, J. R. MUDHOLKAR AND R. S. BACHAWAT, JJ.J
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (7 of
1947), s. 4(1) and (3)-
Scope of.
The appellant visited Far Eastern countries during the years 1951 to
1956 after obtaining from the Government of India the necessa:ry foreign
exchange for the purpose of meeting his expenditure dnring his tour. He
deposited the unspent part of the foreign exchange in different branches
of the Chartered Bank in those countries.
The Director, Enforcement
Directorate, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, took proceedings under
s. 19(2) of the Act and found him guilty of contravening s. 4(1) and
(3). The order was confirmed on appeal by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Appellate Board.
In the appeal to this Court.
HELD : (i) The appellant could not be held to
have contravened
the provi•ions of s. 4(1). [654 F]
To attract s. 4(1), the appellant should have lent foreign &change
to a person who was not an authorised
dealer.
The Bank, no doubt,
was not an authorised dealer, but, when a person deposits free currency
in the current account of a bank in order to draw it whenever necessary
for the purpose for which it was given, it is not possible to hold that he
enters into a contract of loan
with the bank,
within the meaning of
s. 4(1). Ordinarily a deposit of an amount in the current account of a
bank creates a debt, but it need not necessarily involve a contract
of
loan. [653 E; 654 C, D-EJ
Shanti Prasad Jain v. Director of Enforcement, [1963] 2 S.C.R. 294,
followed.
(ii) The tribunals were right in holding that the appellant had contravened s. 4(3). [655 A]
Unde·r this sub-section, the appellant should have sold the unspent
foreign exchange to an authorised dealer without delay.
Since he had
kept the amount in the current account of various branches of the Bank
for a number of years, he was guilty of contravening the provision. [654 H;
655 A]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 890 of
1964.
Appeal by special leave from the order dated February 19,
1963 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Appellate Board, New
Delhi, in Appeal No. 52 of 1959.
H
A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and J. P. Goyal, for the appellant .
Bishan Narain, R. N. Sachthey and B. R. G. K. Achar, for the
respondents.
652
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1966] l S.C.R.
111e Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Subba Rao, J.
This appeal by special leave raises the short
question whether the appellant contravened the provisions of sul>-
ss. (I ) and ( 3) of s. 4 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act,
1947 (VII of 1947), hereinafter called the Act.
A
During the years 1951 to 1956 the appellant, Ram Rattan
B
Gupta, visited the Far Eastern countries after obtaining the necessary foreign exchange from the Government of India. During that
period the appellant opened current accounts with the Chartered
Bank of India, Australia and China, at Singapur, Hong Kong, Osaka and Tokyo, without the general or the special permission of the
Reserve Bank of India. In the different branches of the said Bank
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he deposited the unspent part of the foreign exchange given to
him. The balance of the said deposits made at the various branches
of the Bani.:. was £ 40 (sterling). The appellant received payments from those accounts even after he returned to India. The
Director, Enforcement Directorate, Foreign Exchange Regulation
I>
Act, took proceedings against the appellant under s. 19(2) of the
Act and, after making the necessary enquiries, found him guilty
of contravening the provisions of sub-ss. (I) and (3) of s. 4 of
the Act and imposed on him a penalty of Rs. 2,500/- under s. 23
(l)(a) of the Act. On appeal, the Foreign Exchange Regulation
Appellate Board agreed with the view expressed by the Director of
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Enforcement that the appellant contravened the said provisions of
the Act and dismissed the appeal. The appellant has preferred the
present appeal. by special leave. against the judgment of the said
Board.
Mr. A. V. Viswanatha Sastri, learned counsel for the appellant.
contended that the total of the amounts kept by the appellant in
the branches of the said Bank was a negligible balance of the free
quota of foreign exchange given to him, that there was no relationship of creditor and debtor between the appellant and the Bank in
regard to the said amounts, that the free quota of foreign exchange
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wa< given to him without any condition imposed thereon, and that
on the said facts there was no scope to invoke either sub-s. (I ) or
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sub-s. (1) of s. 4 of the Act.
We will read the relevant provisions of the Act in order tn
appreciate the said contentions.
Section 4. Restrictions on dealing in foreign exchange :
(I) Except with the previous general or special permission of the Reserve Bank, no pe~on other
than an authorised dealer shall in India and no
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R. R. GUPTA V. DIR ENFORCEMENT (Subba Rao, /.)
653
(2)
person resident in India other than an authorised
dealer shall outside India, buy or borrow from,
or sell or lend to, or exchange with, any person
not being an authorised dealer, any foreign exchange.
( 3) Where any foreign exchange is acquired by any
person other than an authorised dealer for any
particular purpose, or where any person has been
permitted conditionally to acquire foreign exchange, the said person shall not use the foreign
exchange so acquired otherwise than for
that
purpose or, as the case may be, .fail to comply
with any condition to which the
permission
granted to him is subject, and where any foreign
exchange so acquired cannot be so used or, as
the case may be, the conditions cannot be complied with, the said person shall without delay
sell the foreign exchange to an authorised
dealer.
Section 4 ( 1 ) of the Act was amended in the year 1964, but we
are concerned only with the said sub-section as it stood before the
amendment. To attracts. 4(1), a resident in India other than an
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authorised dealer shall have lent to any person, not being an autho-
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rised dealer, any foreign exchange.
It is not disputed that the
said Bank was not an "authorised dealer" within the meaning of
the said sub-section. If so, the only question is whether the appellant, in depositing the said amounts in the current account> of the
F various brandies of the said Bank, Jent the said amounts to the
Bank.
What is the meaning of the expression "lend" ? It means in
the ordinary parlance to deliver to another a thing for use on
condition that the thing lent shall be returned with or without
compensation for the use made of it by the person to whom it was
G lent.
The subject-matter of lending may also be money. Though
a Joan contracted creates a debt, there may be a debt created
without contracting a Joan; in other words, the concept of debt is
more comprehensive than that of Joan. It is settled Jaw that the
·relationship between a banker and a customer qua moneys deposited in the bank is that of debtor and creditor. This Court in
H Shanti Prasad Jain v. Director of Enforcement(') restated
~he
principle in the following words :
(I) (1963] 2 S.C.R. 297, 324.
654
SUPllEME COURT
llEPORTS
[1966] l S.C.R.
"Now the law is well settled that when moneys arc
deposited in a Bank, the relationship that is constituted
between the banker !llld the customer is one of debtor
and creditor and not trustee and beneficiary. The banker
is entitled to use the monies without being called upon
to account for such user, his only liability being to return the amount in accordance with the terms agreed
upon between him and the customer."
But this Court qualified that general statement with the remark
that "there might be special arrangement under which a Banker
might be constituted a trustee, but apart from such an arrangement,
his position qua Banker is that of a debtor, and not trustee". It
follows that ordinarily a deposit of an amount in the current
account of a bank creates a debt; but it need not necessarily involve a contract of Joan.
Whether a deposit amounts lo a loan
depends upon the terms of the contract whereunder the deposit is
made. In the context of s. 4 ( I ) of the Act, can it be said that the
depositor in the present case lent money to the Bank ? When a
person deposits free currency in the current account of a bank in
order to draw it whenever necessary for the purpose for which it
wa~ given. it is not possible to hold that he enters into a contract
of loan with the bank within the meaning of s. 4 (I) of the Act.
He only deposits the money for the said purpose. Should we hold
that such a transaction is a loan, many an honest man who
deposts foreign exchange in a bank in a foreign country where he
is staying for a short time to draw it for his requirements will be
committing an offence.
That could not have been the intention
of the Legislature.
If such a deposit is not a loan, it follows
that the appellant cannot be held to have contravened the provisions of s. 4 (I) of the Act.
The next question is whether the appellant was guilty of contravening the provisions of sub-s. (3) of s. 4 of the Act. Under
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the relevant pan of that sub-section, where any foreign exchange
was acquired by a person for any particular purpose and where
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the foreign exchange so acquired cannot be used. the
said
person shall without delay sell the foreign exchange to an authorised dealer.
Admittedly the foreign exchange was acquired by
the appellant for the purpose of meeting his expenditure durin!!
his tour of the Far East countries; but he had not used the entire
foreign exchange for the said purpose. If so, under the express
provisions of sub-s. (3) of s. 4 of the Act, he should have without
delay sold the same to an authorised dealer. Imtead he kept the
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R. R. GUI'TA v. DIR ENFORCEMENT (Subba Rao, I.)
655
A said amount in the current account of the various .branches of the
Bank for a number of years. The tribunals were, therefore, right
in holding that the appellant had contravened the said provision.
No other point arises for consideration in this appeal .
As we find the appellant guilty of an offence only under subB s. ( 3) of s. 4 of the Act, we think the ends of justice will be met
if a fine of Rs. 1,000 only is imposed on hint. We, therefore,
reduce the fine of Rs. 2,500 /- imposed on the appellant to
Rs. 1,000/-. In the result, the order of the Foreign Exchange
Regulation Appellate Board is modified accordingly. The parties
will bear their own costs.
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Order modified.