The amendments made in the N.I. Act and judicial precedents can influence the jurisdiction of the court to entertain and decide cases under Section 138 of the N.I. Act.

JUDGMENT

Arvind Singh Sangwan, J. (Oral) - This common order shall dispose of above mentioned four petitions as they are similar in nature.

2. Prayer in these petitions is for quashing of orders dated 04.12.2015, passed by the trial Court separately in four complaints*, vide which the applications filed by the petitioner/complainant for revival of the said complaints, under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short 'N. I. Act'), have been dismissed.

3. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner/complainant has filed aforesaid four complaints under Section 138 of the N. I. Act read with Section 420 IPC against respondent No.2/accused on account of dishonouring of some cheques drawn on ICICI Bank, Connaught Place Branch, New Delhi.

4. It is further submitted that after the preliminary evidence was recorded, the trial Court issue process against respondent No. 2/accused, vide orders dated 28.07.2014, however, the accused did not put in appearance before the Court.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that in the meantime, in the judgment rendered in Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod vs. State of Maharashtra and another, 2014 (3) SCC (Criminal) 673, Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the complaint filed under Section 138 of the N. I. Act can be filed against the drawer of the cheque only before the Court, within whose jurisdiction, the cheque was dishonoured by the drawer's bank.

6. Learned counsel further submits that in terms of the aforesaid judgment, the trial Court, vide orders dated 22.01.2015 (Annexure P-3) returned the complaints to the petitioner/complainant for presentation before the competent Court of jurisdiction, however, the original case files of the complaints were never handed over to the petitioner and in the meantime, some amendments were made in Section 142 of the N. I. Act by adding Sub-section 2 to Section 142 and as well as Section 142-A, which reads as under:

'In the principal Act, section 142 shall be numbered as subsection (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(2) The offence under section 138 shall be inquired into and tried only by a court within whose local jurisdiction,-

(a) if the cheque is delivered for collection through an account, the branch of the bank where the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account, is situated; or

(b) if the cheque is presented for payment by the payee or holder in due course, otherwise through an account, the branch of the drawee bank where the drawer maintains the account, is situated.

Explanation.- For the purposes of clause (a), where a cheque is delivered for collection at any branch of the bank of the payee or holder in due course, then, the cheque shall be deemed to have been delivered to the branch of the bank in which the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account.".

4. In the principal Act, after section 142, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-

"142A. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or any judgment, decree, order or direction of any court, all cases transferred to the court having jurisdiction under sub-section (2) of section 142, as amended by the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, shall be deemed to have been transferred under this Act, as if that sub-section had been in force at all material times.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of section 142 or sub-section (1), where the payee or the holder in due course, as the case may be, has filed a complaint against the drawer of a cheque in the court having jurisdiction under sub-section (2) of section 142 or the case has been transferred to that court under sub-section (1) and such complaint is pending in that court, all subsequent complaints arising out of section 138 against the same drawer shall be filed before the same court irrespective of whether those cheques w