V.K. JAIN, J. (Oral)

1. By this common judgment, I shall dispose of all the six petitions referred above. Criminal complaints under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act were filed by the respondent against M/s.Sakura Seimitsu India Limited and seven others including the petitioners M.L. Gupta, Rajiv Gupta and Sanjeev Gupta. The allegation against the petitioners was that they were the Chairman, Managing Director and Director respectively of the company and were the persons in charge of and responsible to the company for conduct of its business at the time of commission of the offence.

2. The petitioners were summoned by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act r/w Section 141 thereof. The petitioners are seeking quashing of the complaint on the ground that they had resigned from the Directorship of the company much prior to the date(s) on which cheques in question were presented to the bank for encashment. The petitioners have placed on record certified copies of Form 32 issued by Registrar of Companies, which would show that the petitioner M.L. Gupta had resigned from Directorship on 4th September, 1997, whereas the pet