ORAL ORDER

1. The respondent No.2, although served with the notice issued by this Court, has chosen not to remain present either in person or through an advocate and oppose this application.

2. 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 complaint being Criminal Complaint No.47597 of 2017 pending in the court of the learned Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Negotiable Instrument Act), Court No.27, Ahmedabad for the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

3. The facts of this case may be summarized as under;

3.1 The complainant is serving as an accountant in a firm namely M/s. Bela Marketing Pvt. Ltd. engaged in the business of supply of Cement

3.2 The Ashwin Coal & Coke Enterprise (original accused No.1) is partnership firm registered under the Partnership Act. The accused Nos.2 and 3 shown in the complaint are the partners of the said firm.

3.3 At the relevant point of time, the accused-firm, namely, Ashwin Coal & Coke Enterprise, purchased some materials, i.e., cement from the complainant-firm on credit basis, and the total amount of the bill against the purchased material, had also been debited in the account of the accused-

firm.

3.4 The total outstanding amount to be paid by the accused- firm is Rs.10,99,960/- along with 18% interest accrued thereon. 3.5 The accused No.2 issued five cheques in favour of the complainant-firm bearing cheque numbers 037278, 037280, 037281, 037282, 037283 dated 01.04.2016, drawn on Union Bank of India, towards the payment of its outstanding dues. On the cheques being presented to the bankers of the complainant i.e., Yes Bank Ltd., the cheques were returned vide Memo dated 29.04.2016 with an endorsement “InsufÏcient Funds”.

3.6 The complainant, thereafter, issued a statutory notice dated 10.05.2016, and called upon the accused-firm to make good the amounts mentioned in the cheques, which was duly served to the accused-firm on 11.05.2016. However, the accused-firm did not reply to the said notice and the outstanding amount has also not been as on date.

3.7 The complainant, thereafter, proceeded to file a complaint in the Court of the learned Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Ahmedabad. After recording of the verification of the complainant, the Court thought fit to order a Magisterial inquiry under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal, 1973. On completion of the Magisterial inquiry, the Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad thought fit to issue process against the accused-firm and the partners named in the complaint for the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. On process being issued, the case came to be ultimately registered as the Criminal Case No.47597 of 2017.

3.8 Hence, the application by the applicant-accused No.3 for quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

4. Mr. Ankit Shah, the learned advocate appearing for the drawer of the cheque vehemently submitted that the learned Magistrate committed a serious error in taking cognizance upon the complaint and ought not to have issued process for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

5. Mr. Shah laid much stress on the fact that the applicant-accused is not the signatory upon the dishonoured cheques and the same was signed by her husband. He further submitted that the applicant-accused was no longer a partner of the firm when the cheques in question came to be issued by her husband on 01.04.2016 as the partnership firm had already been dissolved on 31.03.2016 and the applicant- accused was relieved from her liabilities as the partner of the said firm. The said firm was then continued to be operated by the husband of the applicant-accused as the proprietor of Ashwin Coal & Coke Enterprise. Learned advocate Mr. Shah also submitted that if the date of th