The court held that once a Magistrate takes cognizance and ...

Court rejects accused's plea to drop criminal case after issuing process; upholds cheque dishonour complaint despite "account frozen" reason.

Case Laws     Indian Laws

October 5, 2024

The court held that once a Magistrate takes cognizance and issues process against the accused, there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure to allow the Magistrate to drop the proceedings at the behest of the accused. The revisional court's finding that the trial court wrongly dismissed the application for dropping proceedings was contrary to law. Regarding dishonor of a cheque due to 'account frozen', the court ruled that the complaint u/s 138 of the Act is maintainable even if the cheque is dishonored for this reason. The onus is on the accused to prove they were unaware of the account freeze, the freeze was beyond their control, and the account had sufficient balance when the cheque was issued. The revisional court's order was set aside, the trial court's order was restored, and the matter was remanded for a full-fledged trial.

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