9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (6) TMI 1024X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nishable under Section 138 r/w Section 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The respondent herein preferred a private complaint on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate-II, Erode against the wife of the petitioner herein and the petitioner herein arraying them as A1 and A2 respectively. It has been alleged in the complaint that the petitioner herein, being the authorised signatory of his wife, who is running a proprietary concern in the name and style of 'M/s. Darshini Fabrics', issued a cheque dated 21.06.2007 bearing No. 439765 drawn on the account of the above said proprietary concern maintained with ING VYSYA bank for a sum of ₹ 25,000/- in favour of the respondent herein for the discharge of a debt/liability ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er statutory period prescribed in Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was over. b) The mandate holder authorised to sign the cheque on behalf of another, cannot be prosecuted for the simple reason that he signed the cheque on behalf of other person. 4. The arguments advanced by Mr. N. Manokaran, learned Counsel for the petitioner and by Mr. C.S. Saravanan, learned Counsel for the respondent were heard. The documents were also perused. 5. Though the petitioner has taken a stand that the complaint has been lodged beyond the period of limitation as a ground for quashing the complaint, the learned Counsel for the petitioner was fair enough to draw the attention of the court to the proviso to Section 142 which enables th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... als with offences committed by the companies. It also says that when an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is committed by a company, every person in charge of and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business at the time of commission of the said offence as well as the company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence. However, in the explanation, the term company is defined to be any body corporate including a firm or other association of individuals. Explanation (b) says a director , in relation to a firm, means a partner of the firm. 8. A careful reading of Section 141 and the explanations will show that a proprietary concern shall not be covered by the definition of company. This ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... illette India Limited represented by its Power of Attorney Agent, Vijay Malhotra reported in 2006 (2) TLT 178. Almost in similar circumstances, the authorised signatory/mandate holder, who issued the cheques were sought to be prosecuted in those cases and this court held that such prosecution could not be maintained and quashed the proceedings against such mandate holders/authorised signatories. 10. To prosecute a person for an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the cheque should have been issued by him on an account maintained by him with a banker. The opening words of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act reads as follows: Where any cheque drawn by a person on an account maintained by him with a ban ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
