J.B. Pardiwala, J.

1. By this application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the applicant seeks to invoke the inherent powers of this Court, praying for quashing of the Criminal Case No. 24357 of 2015 pending in the Court of the learned 4th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Surat, for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

2. It is not in dispute that the cheque in question for the amount of Rs. 2 lac was issued by the applicant herein in his capacity as a partner of a partnership firm running in the name of Tanish Enterprise. It is also not in dispute that in the complaint itself, the applicant herein has been shown as a partner of a partnership firm.

3. The short point for my consideration is, whether the complaint is maintainable in the absence of the partnership firm being a legal entity.

4. In the complaint, only two persons have been shown as an accused. Both are the partners of a firm. This issue is no longer res integra.

5. Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act reads as under:--

"141. Offences by companies:

(1) If the person committing an offence under section 138 is a company, every person who, at the time