Constitutional Bench Of SC Issues Directions In Cheque Bounce Matters

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has issued directions to lower courts due to the rising number of pending cheque bounce matters in our country.
• This was a suo moto case, In Re: Expeditious Trial of cases under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act [LL 2021 SC 217]
• The constitutional bench comprised of Chief Justice of India S.A Bobde, Justice B.R Gavai, Justice L. Nageshwara Dao, Justice A.S Bopanna and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat.
• This case is listed for the next hearing after 8 weeks.

BACKGROUND DETAILS

• On 7th March 2020, the bench comprising of the Supreme Court judges CJI Bobde and Justice L Nageshwara Rao enlisted a duo moto case to improvise methods for expeditious trial of cheque bounce cases.
• Senior advocates namely Advocate Sidharth Luthra, Advocate K Parmeshwara and R. Basant were appointed amicus curiae in this case.
• On 10th March 2021 the bench in its last hearing had formed a committee which was headed by a former judge of Bombay High Court Justice RC Chavan to suggest measures for expedite trial in cheque bounce matters.

FURTHER DETAILS

• The directions issued by the Constitutional bench of Supreme Court for speedy disposal of cheque bounce matters are as follows:

• The magistrates before converting the trail of complaints under section 138 of the NDPS act from the summary trial into summons trial should record reasons and for this, the High Courts are requested to issue practice directions.
• If an accused resides beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the court then an inquiry is necessary to be conducted if a complaint is received under section 138 to proceed against the accused if there are sufficient grounds.
• With regards to an inquiry under section 202, the magistrate can restrict the inquiry to the point of examination of documents without demanding on examination of witnesses. Also, during an inquiry, it is permissible that evidence of witnesses can be authorized to be taken on affidavit on behalf of the complainant.
• The court also recommended that if there are multiple cases against 1 person under section 138 of the NDPS Act committed within 1 year then it should be clubbed in 1 trial.
• There is no inherent power of the trial court to examine the issue of summons but in cases where it lacks the jurisdiction to try cases and it is brought to the court's notice then it won’t affect the powers of the trial court to revisit the order of issue of process.

• The court also directed the high courts to identify the revision petitions or appeals pending under section 138 of the act and to immediately send them for mediation.

• As the court mentioned earlier it still feels that the central government must formulate special courts for speedy disposal of cheque bounce matters under Article 247 of the Indian Constitution which will also help to reduce the burden on courts.

What are your opinions regarding the court's initiative for speedy disposal of cheque bounce matters? Comment below.