ARUNACHALAM J.

The petitioner is the accused in C.C. No. 2054 of 1989 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate No. II, Poonamallee. The proceedings were initiated on a private complaint filed by the respondent before the said Magistrate for an offence under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. This petition has been filed under section 482, Criminal Procedure Code, seeking to invoke the inherent powers of this court to quash the proceedings pending before the trial Magistrate as an abuse of the process of court and not maintainable in law. The brief facts which led to this prosecution can now be narrated. The respondent, who is the complainant, has its factory at Porur. The petitioner placed an order with the respondent for supply of one number 22 KV outdoor V.C.B. by order dated July 11, 1988. On receipt of the order, the respondent manufactured the article and despatched the same to the petitioner on March 31, 1989. In respect of the order so placed, the petitioner issued a cheque dated March 28, 1989, drawn on the State Bank of India, Pondicherry, in favour of the respondent for a sum of Rs. 3, 56, 349. The cheque, on receipt by the respondent on April 1