Cheque bounce plaint not maintainable if account inactive: HC

Saurabh Malik

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

In a judgment that will change the way prosecution is launched in cheque bounce cases, the High Court has made it clear that the account holder has to be in complete control of an account from which the cheque is issued. A complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act would not be maintainable if the account has been blocked.

Justice Manoj Bajaj asserted the cheque must be from an alive and operative account “maintained” by the holder, who was capable of governing financial transactions including clearance of cheques.

The ruling came in a case where a bank account stood blocked when cheques were presented. Justice Manoj Bajaj asserted the court had no hesitation in holding that the account holder was not maintaining the account on the date when the cheques were presented by the complainant to the drawee bank.

Justice Bajaj was hearing petitions filed by Rajesh Meena for quashing criminal complaints under Sections 138, 141 and 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Directions were also sought for quashing summoning orders passed by Faridabad Judicial Magistrate First Class.

Justice Bajaj was told that the trial court summoned the accused after examining the pre-summoning evidence and the fact that the cheques were dishonoured with the remarks “account blocked”

The petitioner’s counsel contended that the blocking of the account could not be attributed to the account holder as it was a result of an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal. “By virtue of the order, the authority and control of the account holder over the account ceased to exist”. The counsel added the cheques given were post-dated. The company’s account stood blocked when the cheques were presented.

Justice Bajaj asserted a careful analysis of Section 138 revealed that the first and foremost requirement was that the cheque issued by the account holder was from an account maintained by him.