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Renuka v. The State of Maharashtra and Another

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 327Decided 7 Apr 2026
Crl.A. No.-001783-001783 - 2026
Justice J.K. Maheshwari · Justice Atul S. Chandurkar

Background

The appellant had a dispute with her husband over an alleged fraudulent transfer of shares of two family companies, which the two attempted to settle through a draft settlement agreement dated 12 January 2022, under which her husband would transfer property to her and pay her Rs. 50 crores. A close friend of the husband (the second respondent) agreed to act as mediator/escrow-keeper for the Rs. 50 crores and issued the appellant a cheque for that amount on the same date. When the appellant deposited the cheque, it was dishonoured on the drawer's instructions ("payment stopped by drawer"). After statutory notice went unanswered with payment, she filed a criminal complaint under Section 138 of the N.I. Act; a Magistrate issued process, but the Sessions Court, in revision, quashed it on the view that there was no legally enforceable debt, and the Bombay High Court upheld that order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the Sessions Court and the High Court erred by focusing on whether the settlement agreement was validly signed and by treating the matrimonial dispute as decisive, while ignoring that the basic ingredients of Section 138 (issuance of a cheque, its dishonour, timely statutory notice, and a timely complaint) were undisputed. Because the second respondent admitted signing and issuing the cheque, the statutory presumption under Section 139 of the N.I. Act (that a cheque is issued for a legally enforceable debt or liability) was triggered, and it was wrong to conclude at the pre-trial stage, without giving the complainant a chance to lead evidence, that no enforceable debt existed. The Court restored the criminal complaint for trial on its merits, clarifying it had expressed no opinion on the actual merits.

Lesson Learnt

Once a person admits to issuing and signing a cheque that was later dishonoured, courts should not short-circuit a Section 138 cheque-bounce case at the threshold by second-guessing the underlying debt. The law presumes the cheque was for a legally enforceable liability, and it is up to the accused to rebut that presumption with evidence at trial, not have the case dismissed before trial even begins.

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

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