VERY IMPORTANT POINTS
1. Notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, served in the name of director of Company who signed the cheque on behalf of Company is proper notice and as such complaint cannot be quashed on ground that notice was not served on the Company.
2. Once offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is committed, any payment made subsequent thereto will not absolve the accused of the liability of criminal offence, though in the matter of awarding of sentence, it may have some effect on the Court trying the offence.

JUDGMENT

Pattanaik, J.-Leave Granted.

2. The complainant is the appellant against the impugned orders dated 13th August, 1999 of a learned Single Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in three criminal miscellaneous petitions file under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. By the impugned orders, the learned Judge quashed three criminal complaints filed under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Admittedly, three cheques had been given to the appellant, drawn on Bank of Baroda, Parliament Street, New Delhi, representing different amounts, amounting to Rs. 2,32,600 in all. These cheques were presented by the appellant for encashment, but the same were returned with the endorsement "Payment stopped by the drawer". The appellant, therefore, served notices on the respondent, calling upon him to pay the amount of cheques within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. Since the respondent failed to pay the amount, the complaints were filed in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kullu. The learned Magistrate proceeded to hold inquiry under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and thereafter took cognizance of the offence and directed issuance of process. The accused respondent challenged the order of the Magistrate, issuing process by filing application under Section 482 inter alia on the ground that the stoppage of payment by the drawer does not constitute an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and service of notice, as contemplated under proviso (b) to Section 138 of the Act has not been proved. Those petitions however were dismissed by the High Court by order dated 25.3.1998. It was held by the High Court that in view of the Judgment of the Supreme Court in M/s. Modi Cements Limited v. Shri Kuchil Kumar Nandi1 there is no merit in any of the petitions and the same accordingly stand rejected. It was, however observed that the accused shall be at liberty to raise all such points, as may be available to him during the trial of the case before the trial Court. After dismissal of respondent s application filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the respondent filed application before the Magistrate for recalling the issuance of process. The Magistrate however dismissed those applications. The accused, therefore, filed the petitions before the High Court again under Section 482. The High Court having allowed the application filed under Section 482 by the impugned orders dated 1.2.1999, the complainant has preferred these appeals against the same. Two contentions had been raised before the High Court by the accused :

(1) Cheques had been issued in the capacity of the Director of the company to whom the watches were supplied, but the complaint has been filed without impleading the company as accused and as such the same is not maintainable; and

(2) In the absence of notice, as contemplated by clause (b) of the proviso to Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, criminal proceedings cannot be proceeded with.

The High Court rejected the first contention and held that the criminal prosecution would lie under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, without impleading the company of which the accused is the Director as the party. But so far as the second contention is concerned, the High Court came to the conclusion that the notice that was issued by the complainant on account of dishonour of the cheques having been issued to the accused in his individual capacity and not having been issued to the drawer thereof, no offence can be said to have been committed by the company M/s. Bhalla Techtran Industries Limited, and, therefore, the criminal proceedings cannot be proceeded against by taking recourse to Section 141 of the Act. It is this conclusion of the High Court, which is the subject matter of challenge in these appeals.

3. It may be stated at this stage that in the earlier round of litigation, when the accused has filed application u