As well as Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, Section 141 (1) The phrase “as well as” used in sub-section (1) of Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, has some importance. The said phrase would embroil the persons mentioned in the first category within the tentacles of the offence on a par with the offending company. The words “shall also” in sub-section (2) are capable of bringing the third category persons additionally within the dragnet of the offence on an equal par. The effect of reading Section 141 is that when the company is the drawer of the cheque such company is the principal offender under Section 138 of the Act and the remaining persons are made offenders by virtue of the legal fiction created by the legislature as per the section. Hence the actual offence should have been committed by the company, and then alone the other two categories of persons can also become liable for the offence. [Anil Hada v. Indian Acrylic Ltd., (2000) 1 SCC 1 (7)]