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TMI Blog2019 (8) TMI 1818X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Crl.Appeals pending before the appellate court which are at the fag end of trial or pronouncement of judgment, why because, with the pronouncement of the judgment there is possibility for the accused being acquitted also. Therefore, no purpose will be served by directing the accused to deposit any sum, at that stage in view of the provision incorporated under Proviso to sub-Section (3) of Section 148 N.I Act directing to refund the amount in deposit within 60 days or 90 days as the case may be, after the judgment turns against the complainant. The power is meant to be invoked at a point of time when appeal is preferred or to say more specifically, prior to passing of an order suspending the execution of sentence in an application preferred under Section 389(1) Cr.P.C in the Appeal. The application preferred by either party to the appeal beyond that time shall not be entertained by the appellate court in view of sub-sections (2) and (3) and proviso thereunder, which stipulate time for making deposits, provision for release of the amount deposited to the complainant and for refund of the amount to the appellant/accused on himself being acquitted. Section 148 can have only prosp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the said compensation amount awarded as per the impugned judgment before the Court below within 30 days from this day. 2. The appellant/accused is directed to file a memo before this Court on or before 15.07.2019 after making the said deposit. 3. The court below shall release the said amount, if it is deposited, to the complainant/petitioner/respondent as per rules, subject to proviso to Sub.sec.(3) of Sec.148 of the N.I. Act. 3. Aggrieved appellant/accused is now before this Court challenging the order and seeking to quash the same. 4. The contention of Sri.S.Sreekumar, the learned Senior Counsel on behalf of the appellant was that Section 148 was brought into N.I. Act, by Amendment Act 20 of 2018 and was effective only from 01.09.2018 and cannot have application in an appeal filed on 15.11.2016, wherein the sentence under challenge was suspended forthwith. According to the learned counsel, the appellant/accused having been complied with the conditions imposed by the appellate court, it is illegal and unjust for the court to impose further obligations on him. According to him, as per direction in the order suspending the sentence, the appellant/accused has deposited R ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment passed against them. 9. The appellate court has relied on the dictum in Surinder Singh Deswal @Col.S.S.Deswal and others v. Virender Gandhi [2019 (3) KHC 355(SC)] while passing the impugned order and issuing direction to the accused to make deposit of 20% of compensation. 10. The background for introduction of the new provision into N.I Act is well explained in the objects and reasons of Amendment Act No.20/2018 which reads; The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (the Act) was enacted to define and amend the law relating to Promissory Notes, Bills of Exchange and Cheques. The said Act has been amended from time to time so as to provide inter alia, speedy disposal of cases relating to the offence of dishonour of cheques. However, the Central Government has been receiving several representations from the public including trading community relating to pendency of cheque dishonour cases. This is because of delay tactics of unscrupulous drawers of dishonoured cheques due to easy filing of appeals and obtaining stay on proceedings. As a result of this, injustice is caused to the payee of a dishonoured cheque who has to spend considerable time and resources in Court proceedin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h shall not be less than 20% of the fine or compensation can be invoked by the appellate court either on an application filed by the accused under Section 389 Cr.P.C seeking to suspend the sentence or on an application filed by the complainant seeking deposit. 16. The power under Section 148 is meant to be invoked by the appellate court while entertaining an appeal from a judgment of conviction imposing sentence on the accused. That is why, it was held as applicable to complaints filed to launch the prosecution under Section 142 N.I. Act and pending before the courts, prior to 01.09.2018. 17. That does not mean that the provision is meant to be invoked in all Crl.Appeals pending before the appellate court which are at the fag end of trial or pronouncement of judgment, why because, with the pronouncement of the judgment there is possibility for the accused being acquitted also. Therefore, no purpose will be served by directing the accused to deposit any sum, at that stage in view of the provision incorporated under Proviso to sub-Section (3) of Section 148 N.I Act directing to refund the amount in deposit within 60 days or 90 days as the case may be, after the judgment turns a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the accused to deposit a portion of the compensation awarded by the judgment of the trial court and release of the same was filed by the complainant at a time when hearing of the appeal was over and posted for judgment. The application was filed after getting the case reopened for further hearing. Annexure A2 order allowing the application was passed by the appellate court on 13.06.2019. The said order, which is under challenge, is undoubtedly against the intention of the Parliament while incorporating Section 148 into N.I. Act, which could be deduced from the object and reasons extracted supra. It is pertinent to note that the appeal was heard once and posted for judgment on 25.07.2018. Sub-section (3) of Section 148 makes provision for release of the amount deposited by the accused to the complainant on application being filed for the purpose. Therefore, under sub-section (2) the period within which the deposit can be made is specified. At any cost, the period shall not exceed 90 days from the date of passing of the order. In that context, sub-section (3) and proviso thereto assume much importance. As per sub-section (3), the appellate court may direct the release of the amount d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was suspended. The order suspending the execution of the sentence was passed immediately after preferring Criminal Appeal challenging the judgment of the trial court. Rs.75,000/- of the compensation amount is now under deposit from the side of the appellant. The appeal in question is found originated from a complaint filed in the year 2015. The appeal is filed two years prior to incorporation of Section 148 into the N.I. Act. Since the appeal was admitted and an order suspending the execution of the sentence was passed after 2 years of incorporation of Section 148 into the N.I. Act and Rs.75,000/- as directed by the Court was deposited as a condition precedent for suspending execution of sentence in the appeal, the trial court is highly unjustified in re-opening the prosecution which was almost concluded and posted for judgment for the purpose of consideration of Crl.M.P No.721/2019 and to pass the impugned order. Annexure A2 order, undoubtedly is an erroneous one as it was passed in total disregard of the object and reasons of the Parliament while incorporating Section 148 into the Act. The Apex Court has held that Section 148 has application in complaints filed to launch prosecut ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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