V.S.AGGARWAL
Anita – Appellant
Versus
Anil K. Mehra – Respondent
Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points:
When a person issues multiple cheques towards discharge of a specific liability, and some of those cheques bounce, the transaction is considered as one single transaction under Section 219 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Therefore, a complaint filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act in respect of all nine cheques is permissible and not barred by Section 219 (!) .
A complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is maintainable even if the cheques are post-dated, provided other conditions are met (!) .
Law does not require notice to be sent to every partner of a firm when a cheque issued by one partner on behalf of the firm bounces. Issuing notice to the firm through one partner who issued the cheque suffices for compliance with the legal requirement (!) (!) .
When a cheque issued by a firm bounces, and a demand notice is issued to the firm via a partner who issued the cheque, the notice is valid and sufficient. It is not necessary to send notices to each individual partner (!) .
A complaint that impleads all partners of a firm must specify their roles and responsibilities. If the complaint does not allege that other partners were responsible for the conduct of the firm's business or that the offence was committed with their consent or negligence, proceedings against those partners cannot be sustained (!) (!) (!) .
The person who issued the cheque, even if not in charge of the firm's conduct, can be prosecuted if it is established that they issued the cheque on behalf of the firm. The initial burden is on the complainant to prove that the accused was responsible for issuing the cheque (!) (!) .
Under the law, the term 'company' also includes a firm or other association of individuals for the purpose of Section 138. Therefore, partners in a firm can be prosecuted under the same provisions if they are responsible for the offence (!) (!) .
The complaint must specify that the accused was in charge of or responsible for the conduct of the firm's business at the time of the offence for proceedings against partners other than the one who issued the cheque to be valid. If such particulars are missing, proceedings against those partners are liable to be dismissed (!) (!) .
As for the individual who issued the cheque, if he is not explicitly shown to be responsible for the firm's conduct, the complaint may proceed against him if he issued the cheque and the other procedural conditions are satisfied (!) (!) .
In summary, proceedings can proceed against the person who issued the cheque on behalf of the firm, provided the complaint contains the necessary particulars establishing his role. Conversely, proceedings against other partners lacking such particulars are liable to be dismissed (!) .
Please let me know if you need further clarification or assistance.
V.S. Aggarwal. J. Since common questions are involved, therefore, all the three criminal revisions can be disposed of together.
2. The relevant facts are that petitioner Ms. Anita filed a complaint against the respondents asserting that respondent Anil K. Mehra as partner of the firm Ms. Mehra Enterprises, of which respondents 2 and 3 are also partners, issued ten cheques for Rs. 2066.66 paisa each in her favour. They had been drawn on the Central Bank of India. Sector 22-C, Ghandigarh to the discharge the debt of Rs. 20666.60 paise on account of the loan advanced. The details of the cheques and their numbers had been given in the complaint. The cheques had been presented for encashment and were received back with the remarks "exceeds arrangements". A notice was issued to the firm calling upon it to pay the amount of cheques within 15 days. It was received on 22.4.1989 but the payment was not made. Instead a reply was sent. The learned Judicial Magistrate summoned the respondents as accused persons.
3. On identical facts petitioner Santosh Kumari preferred another criminal complaint with respect to the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Herein nine c
State of Andhra Pradesh v. Kandimalla Subbaiah & Anr.; AIR 1961 SC 1241.
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