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Alka Khandu Avhad v. Amar Syamprasad Mishra & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 164Decided 8 Mar 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 258 of 2021
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

The complainant, a practising advocate, had represented a husband and wife (the two accused) in legal proceedings and raised a professional bill for his work. The husband issued a post-dated cheque from his own individual bank account towards this bill, and the cheque was dishonoured for insufficient funds. The complainant filed a criminal complaint under Section 138 (read with Section 141) of the NI Act against both the husband and the wife. The wife, who was neither a signatory to the cheque nor held any joint account with her husband, sought to have the complaint against her quashed, but the Bombay High Court refused.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 138 of the NI Act can only be invoked against the person who actually signed the dishonoured cheque, drawn on an account maintained by that person: mere joint liability for the underlying debt is not enough. It further held that Section 141 (which extends liability to persons responsible for the conduct of a "company") applies only to companies, firms, or other associations of individuals, and that two private individuals jointly liable for a personal debt do not constitute such an "association." Since the wife was neither the signatory nor the account holder, and the liability was a personal/individual one rather than that of a company or firm, prosecuting her was an abuse of the legal process. The complaint against her was quashed.

Lesson Learnt

Being jointly responsible for paying a debt does not, by itself, make a person criminally liable under cheque-bounce law, only the person who actually signed the cheque from their own account can be prosecuted under Section 138 of the NI Act.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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