JUDGMENT

Y.K. Sabharwal, J.-Leave granted.

2. The second respondent has filed a complaint against five accused under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, "the Act") alleging dishonour of a cheque, the accused having stopped payment thereof. Out of five, three accused are ladies. On an application filed by the said accused, inter alia, alleging that the complaint does not fulfill the ingredients of Section 141 of the Act, the Magistrate directed their discharge holding that there are no allegations in the complaint, making out an offence against them. The order of the Magistrate was, however, set aside by the Sessions Judge. The learned Sessions Judge held that `no doubt, it is not specifically mentioned in the complaint that all the accused were in-charge of the business but merely non-mentioning of specific words does not mean that they were not in-charge of the business and in this view came to the conclusion that it was for the accused to establish that they had no knowledge about the transaction or had exercised due diligence. The High Court, by the impugned judgment, has upheld the order of the Sessions Judge insofar as it concerns the appellants. The