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S.P. Mani and Mohan Dairy vs. Dr. Snehalatha Elangovan

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 970Decided 16 Sept 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 1586 of 2022
Surya Kant · J.B. Pardiwala

Background

S.P. Mani and Mohan Dairy, a milk supplier, had sold milk products on credit to a partnership firm. A cheque for Rs. 10 lakh issued by the firm (signed by one partner) bounced for insufficient funds. After a statutory notice went unanswered, the complainant filed a criminal complaint under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act against the firm and its partners, including the respondent, Dr. Snehalatha Elangovan. The Madras High Court quashed the complaint against her, holding that the complaint did not sufficiently show how she was "in charge of and responsible for" the firm's business, particularly since she claimed the firm had already been dissolved before the cheque was issued.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the complainant's appeal and set aside the High Court's quashing order, restoring the case against the respondent. It held that the complaint and the statutory notice both contained specific averments that the respondent, as a partner, was in charge of and responsible for the firm's affairs and had consented to the cheque's issuance, which is sufficient at the complaint stage to require the accused to stand trial. The Court reiterated that a person who wishes to escape liability by claiming she was not actually involved must produce "unimpeachable and incontrovertible" material to that effect (rather than a bald denial), ideally starting with a reply to the statutory notice itself; silence in response to such a notice can reasonably be treated as acceptance of what it states. Quashing a criminal complaint at a preliminary stage, the Court emphasized, is meant to be reserved for cases where no offence is made out at all, not for weighing disputed facts that belong at trial.

Lesson Learnt

In a cheque-bounce case, once a complaint makes clear, specific averments that a partner or director was responsible for a firm's affairs, courts will ordinarily let the matter proceed to trial; a partner who wants to avoid trial must respond to the statutory notice and later produce solid evidence disproving involvement, rather than relying on a mere denial.

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

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