Amendments to legislation operate prospectively unless expressly stated otherwise; thus, provisions of Section 143-A of the Negotiable Instruments Act applied only to offenses committed post-amendment.

ORDER :

VISHAL DHAGAT, J.

Petitioner has filed this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure challenging order dated 24.12.2018 by which trial Court has directed the accused to deposit interim compensation under Section 143 -A(2) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

2. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that amendment was brought into force on 01.09.2018. Complaint case was filed on 25.08.2018. Said amendment will not operate in case of petitioner. Amendment Act of 2018 will only operate prospectively. In these circumstances, trial Court has committed an error of law in allowing the application for deposit of interim compensation i.e. 20% of the cheque amount.

3. Heard the counsel for the petitioner.

4. Perused the Section 143 -A of the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 (20 of 2018). As per said Amendment Act, trial Court is vested with power to direct accused person to deposit interim compensation not exceeding 20% of the amount of the cheque. Section 143 -A (3) provides that interim compensation shall be paid within sixty days from the date of order under Sub-section (1) and Court may also extend the said period if sufficient cause is being shown by the drawer of the cheque. Section 143 (4) lays down that if drawer of cheque is acquitted, Court shall direct the complainant to repay to the drawer the amount of interim compensation with interest at the bank rate as published by the Reserve Bank of India, prevalent at the beginning of the relevant financial years, within sixty days from the date of the order.

5. At this stage, counsel appearing for petitioner submitted that rights of the petitioner will be affected as amount which has been directed to be paid, is to be recovered as a fine which points that guilt of the accused is determined, therefore, his rights will be affected. Further reliance is placed by him on paragraph No.23 of judgment passed byApex Court in case of G.J. Raja Vs. Tejraj Surana reported in (2019) 19 SCC 469, which is quoted as under:-

"23. In the ultimate analysis, we hold Section 143 -A to be prospective in operation and that the provisions of said Section 143 -A can be applied or invoked only in cases where the offence under Section 138 of the Act was committed after the introduction of said Section 143 -A in the statute book. Consequently, the orders passed by the trial court as well as the High Court are required to be set aside. The money deposited by the appellant, pursuant to the interim direction passed by this Court, shall be returned to the appellant along with interest accrued thereon within two weeks from the date of this order."

6. Since, application of Section 143 -A of the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 (20 of 2018) was held to be prospective in nature and in present case complaint case was filed on 25.08.2018 and amendment was brought into force on 01.09.2018, therefore, trial Court has committed an error in directing payment of interim compensation under Section 143 -A of the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 (20 of 2018).

7. In view of same, order dated 24.12.2018 is quashed. Petition is allowed.