How to ascertain vicarious liability of director of company in case dishonour of cheque?
get completed only on expiration of fifteen days from the receipt of the
statutory demand notice. However, it consists of various acts and
constituents that give rise to the commission of offence. Some of those
acts are the disputed transaction, the issuance of the cheque, the
dishonour of the cheque by the Bank and, lastly, the issuance of notice.
The dates of all these acts are relevant, as these acts cannot be
separated from one another. They together constitute the offence under
Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. It is the combination of all
these acts, which gives rise to the commission of the offence under the
said Section. Therefore, if the relevant date for attracting vicarious liability
of the Director under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is, “at
the time the offence was committed”, then, as the offence of Section 138
of Negotiable Instruments Act comprises of all these essential acts,
majority of these acts in the present case, like the transaction in question
and issuance of cheques took place when the Petitioner was very much
Director of the Company. Hence, she cannot escape of the liability from
this angle also. In this view of the matter, it cannot be said that the
Petitioner was not the Director when the offence was committed. Once
this is so, she cannot avoid facing prosecution only on the ground of her
having ceased to be the Director, when the last few acts of presentation of
the cheque to the Bank and its dishonour took place.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.3188 OF 2014
Mrs. Lata Pramod Dave,
Versus
M/s. Mode Export Private Limited,
CORAM : DR. SHALINI PHANSALKAR-JOSHI, J.
PRONOUNCED ON : 17THMARCH 2016.
https://www.lawweb.in/2016/03/how-to-ascertain-vicarious-liability-of.html
