Skip to main content

Dishonoured cheque in void contract not legally enforceable

In  R.Parimala Bai v. Bhaskar Narasimhiah, the complaint was filed with respect to dishonour of a cheque issued for returning the amount collected by the accused as consideration for securing a job . The complainant alleged that he had paid a sum of ten lakhs rupees to the accused on his promise that he will secure job for the son of the complainant at HAL Factory. When the promise was not kept, the complainant demanded the amount back, and a cheque for rupees ten lakhs was issued by the accused, which got dishonoured for lack of sufficient funds, leading to filing of the complaint.

The accused opposed the complaint referring to judgments of the Supreme Court in Virender Singh v. Laxmi Narayain and Kuju Collieries Ltd v. Jharkhand Mines Ltd., which held that Sec. 138 NI Act was not attracted for dishonour of a cheque issued for recovery of bribe paid for securing job.

The High Court of Karnataka agreed with the arguments of the accused, and held that there was no legally enforceable debt as the underlying contract was void.  If an illegal consideration is relied upon by the complainant himself, then presumption under Section 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act cannot be raised in the initial stages also. It is a well established principle of criminal law jurisprudence that, if on plain and meaningful reading of the FIR, the allegations made in the complaint or in the FIR do not constitute any offence or under any penal law for the time being in force, the continuation of such prosecution amounts to abuse of process of law


Comments

Post a Comment

Most viewed this month

Partition proceedings are vitiated even if single co-sharer is not made party or is not served in accordance with law

Cause Title :  Bhagwant Singh vs  Financial Commissioner (Appeals) Punjab, Chandigarh,  CWP-2132-2018 (O&M), High Court Of Punjab & Haryana At Chandigarh Date of Judgment/Order : 31.08.2022 Corum : Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sudhir Mittal Background A large parcel of land was owned by the Nagar Panchayat. Thereafter, some of the co-sharers sold their shares to third parties including the petitioners herein. On 22.11.1995, respondents No.3 to 5 filed an application for partition of the land. The petitioners were not impleaded as parties.  On completion of proceedings, sanad was issued on 28.08.1996. Vide two separate sale deeds dated 28.05.2008 respondents No.3 and 5 sold some portion in favour of respondent No.6 and 7. These respondents sought implementation of the sanad resulting in issuance of warrants of possession dated 05.06.2008. Allegedly, it was then that the petitioners realized that joint land had been partitioned and that proceedings h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Power of Attorney holder can also file cheque bounce cases: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a criminal complaint in a cheque bounce case can be filed and pursued by a person who holds a power of attorney (PoA) on behalf of the complainant. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam gave the "authoritative" pronouncement on the issue, referred to it by a division bench in view of conflicting judgements of some high courts and the apex court. "We are of the view that the power of attorney holder may be allowed to file, appear and depose for the purpose of issue of process for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (which deals with cheque bounce cases)," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, said. The bench, in its judgement, said, "...we clarify the position and answer the questions in the following manner: "Filing of complaint petition under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act through PoA holder is perfectly legal...
1 comment
Read more

Christian who reconverts as Hindu SC will get quota benefits

Amid the controversy over “ghar wapsi”, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person who “reconverts” from Christianity to Hinduism shall be entitled to reservation benefits if his forefathers belonged to a Scheduled Caste and the community accepts him after “reconversion”. Citing articles by B R Ambedkar and James Massey, and reports by Mandal Commission and Chinappa Commission, the court said: “There has been detailed study to indicate the Scheduled Caste persons belonging to Hindu religion, who had embraced Christianity with some kind of hope or aspiration, have remained socially, educationally and economically backward.” The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda held that a person shall not be deprived of reservation benefits if he decides to “reconvert” to Hinduism and adopts the caste that his forefathers originally belonged to just because he was born to Christian parents or has a Christian spouse. Expanding the scope of a previous Constitution benc...
1 comment
Read more