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Apex Distributors & Another v. Timex Group India Ltd.

Transfer Petition (Criminal) · Neutral citation not assigned (Transfer Petition (Criminal) No. 197 of 2012)Decided 5 Aug 2014
Transfer Petition (Criminal) No. 197 of 2012
Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

Timex filed a cheque-dishonour complaint against Apex Distributors in Delhi, relying on its demand notice having been sent from there. The cheque was drawn on a bank in Vellore, and the accused sought transfer to Pondicherry, also citing illness.

Decision Breakdown

Applying the territorial-jurisdiction rule then stated in Harman Electronics and Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod, the Supreme Court held that sending a demand notice from Delhi did not give Delhi courts jurisdiction. Since the cheque was dishonoured at the drawer's bank in Vellore, it ordered the complaint transferred to the Chief Judicial Magistrate there, who could try it or send it to another competent court. It considered that transfer would also address the accused's medical difficulties. The order decided the proper place for the proceedings and did not determine the accused's claim that the cheque was merely security.

Lesson Learnt

A transfer order changes where a case is heard without deciding whether the accused committed the offence. This case illustrates the cheque-complaint venue rule applied in August 2014; anyone filing today must check the applicable filing law.

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

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