Dishonour of Cheque – Offence by partnership firm – Notice to a partner individually is also valid notice to firm

Mr. Ramendra Jain, J. (Oral):- By this common order, two above titled petitions are being disposed of, as similar facts are involved therein. For brevity, the facts are being extracted from CRM-M-24286-2017.

2. Briefly, respondent filed a Complaint No. 816 dated 02.03.2016 (Annexure P-1), titled ‘Ramesh Khanna Vs. Subash Chander’ against the petitioner under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short -’the Act’). After summoning of the petitioner, vide order dated 03.03.2016 (Annexure P-2), the petitioner appeared and thereafter, immediately approached this Court for dismissal of said complaint, on the ground that he could not have been summoned, without impleading his partnership firm.

3. Relying upon Sections 138 and 141 of the Act, learned counsel for the petitioner inter alia contends that drawer of the cheque in favour of respondent-complainant was partnership firm of the petitioner and he has not issued the same in his individual capacity. The partnership firm is covered under the definition of company under Section 141 of the Act. Under general law, a company and firm are different entities. Therefore, the same could not have been made applicable in the impugned complaint, more particularly, when a firm has been specifically included in the definition of company. In support of his contentions, learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon judgments in (i) Krishna Texport and Capital Markts Ltd. Vs. Ila A. Agrawal and others, 2015(8) SCC 28; (ii) I.C.S.D. Ltd Vs. Beena Shabeer and another, 2002(4) RCR (Criminal) 74; (iii) Anil Sachar and another Vs. M/s Shree Nath Spinnder P. Ltd. and others etc., [2011(4) Law Herald (SC) 2785 : 2011(3) Law Herald (P&H) (SC) 2513] : 2011 AIR (SC) (Cri) 1695; (iv) Jugesh Sehgal Vs. Shamsher Singh Gogi, [2009(5) Law Herald (SC) 3096 : 2009(3) Law Herald (P&H) 2485 (SC)] : 2009(3) RCR (Criminal) 712; (v) Mrs. Aparna A. Shah Vs. M/s Sheth Developers Pvt. Ltd. and another, [2013(4) Law Herald (SC) 2947] : 2013(4) SCC(Cri) 241; (vi) Anil Gupta Vs. Star India Pvt. Ltd. and another, [2014(3) Law Herald (SC) 2086 : 2014(4) Law Herald (P&H) 2916 (SC)] : 2014(3) RCR (Criminal) 587; (vii) Jitendra Vora Vs. Bhavana Y. Shah and another, [2015(4) Law Herald (SC) 3125 : 2015(4) Law Herald (P&H) 3466 (SC) : 2015 LawHerald.Org 1875] : 2015 (4) RCR (Criminal) 398; (viii) Mainuddin Abdul Sattar Shaikh Vs. Vijay D. Salvi, [2015(3) Law Herald (SC) 2351 : 2015 LawHerald.Org 1280 : 2015(3) Law Herald (P&H) 2505 (SC)] : 2015(3) RCR (Civil) 711; (ix) M/s Target Overseas Exports Pvt. Ltd. Vs. A.M. Iqbal and others, 2005(2) RCR (Criminal) 773; (x) Indira Gandhi Memorial General Marketing Society Ltd. Vs. Roys Abraham, Maliekkal House, 2017 (4) Ker L.J. 155; (xi) Srikant Somani and others Vs. Sharad Gupta and another, 2005(3) RCR (Criminal) 304; (xii) Paulose Vs. M/s Malabar Cements Ltd. and another, 2018(2) NIJ 398; (xiii) Suresh Kumar Kochhar and another Vs. State of Punjab, [2014(6) Law Herald (P&H) 5560] : 2014(2) RCR (Criminal) 206; (xiv) N. Elangovan Vs. C. Ganesan, 2014(31) RCR (Criminal) 242; (xv) Ratishbhai D. Ramani Vs. State of Gujarat and another, 2014(35) RCR (Criminal) 798; (xvi) K. Babu, Shiva Surya (Putehn Tharayil), Padinjare Nada Vs. State of Kerala, 2017(4) Ker. L.J. 33; (xvii) K.S. Gupta Enterprises Vs. Mr. Ashok Shaligram Gupta and others, 2015(34) RCR (Criminal) 637;(xviii) Oanali Ismailji Sadikot Vs. State of Gujarat and another, 2016(1) Crimes 79 and (xix) Aneeta Hada Vs. Godfather Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd., [2012(3) Law Herald (SC) 2496] : 2012(2) RCR (Criminal) 854.

4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent vehemently refuting the submissions of learned counsel for petitioner pleaded the legality and validity of complaint (Annexure P-1) and summoning order (Annexure P-2). Referring to Section 24 of the Partnership Act, 1932 (for short-the 1932 Act) which envisages that any notice issued to the partner of a company, automatically means notice