JUDGMENT :

J.B. PARDIWALA, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is at the instance of the original complainant of a complaint filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, “the NI Act”) and is directed against the order passed by the High Court of Madras dated 16.02.2021 in the Criminal Original Petition No. 1063 of 2021 filed by the respondent herein (accused no.03) under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, “the Code”), whereby the High Court allowed the application and quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against the respondent herein in the court of the Judicial Magistrate Fast Track Court No.-II, Erode.

3. There are some legal issues with a never-ending debate. The debate on such legal issues goes on and on despite there being plethora of case law on the subject. The NI Act by now is almost three decades old. Section 141 of the NI Act is on the statute past more than three decades. There are various decisions of this Court and High Courts explaining the true purport of Section 141 of the NI Act. However, the debate on Sec