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Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court has emphasized the need for expeditious proceedings in cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, without unnecessary technical delays.

The observation was made by Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal in light of directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of In Re: Expeditious Trial of Cases under Section 138 N.I. Act, 1881. The Supreme Court had issued directives to address the backlog of cheque dishonor cases and expedite the resolution of such matters.

The high court's remarks came while dealing with a petition filed by Ram Dhari Pal, who sought direction to the Additional Civil Judge (J.D.) Ist/Judicial Magistrate, Jaunpur, to conclude the trial in his complaint case filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act within a stipulated period.

The petitioner contended that he had filed the complaint in 2022, but the trial proceedings were still ongoing. Referring to Section 143(2) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the applicant argued that trials for offences under the Act should be conducted on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, Section 143(3) stipulates that the trial should be concluded within six months from the date of filing the complaint.

Taking cognizance of both the Supreme Court's directives and the statutory provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the Allahabad High Court directed the Additional Civil Judge (J.D.) Ist/Judicial Magistrate, Jaunpur, to expedite the trial of the complaint case, preferably within six months.

The court emphasized the importance of adhering to the specified timelines in Sections 143(2) and 143(3) of the Negotiable Instruments Act to ensure the swift resolution of cases under the Act.

The Supreme Court in the case of In Re: Expeditious Trial of Cases under Section 138 N.I. Act, 1881 gave the following directions:

1) The high courts are requested to issue practice directions to the Magistrates to record reasons before converting trial of complaints under Section 138 of the Act from summary trial to summons trial.

2) Inquiry shall be conducted on receipt of complaints under Section 138 of the Act to arrive at sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused, when such accused resides beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the court.

3) For the conduct of inquiry under Section 202 of the Code, evidence of witnesses on behalf of the complainant shall be permitted to be taken on affidavit. In suitable cases, the Magistrate can restrict the inquiry to examination of documents without insisting for examination of witnesses.

4) We recommend that suitable amendments be made to the Act for provision of one trial against a person for multiple offences under Section 138 of the Act committed within a period of 12 months, notwithstanding the restriction in Section 219 of the Code.

5) The high courts are requested to issue practice directions to the trial courts to treat service of summons in one complaint under Section 138 forming part of a transaction, as deemed service in respect of all the complaints filed before the same court relating to dishonour of cheques issued as part of the said transaction.

6) Judgments of this court in Adalat Prasad (supra) and Subramanium Sethuraman (supra) have interpreted the law correctly and we reiterate that there is no inherent power of Trial courts to review or recall the issue of summons. This does not affect the power of the trial court under Section 322 of the Code to revisit the order of issue of process in case it is brought to the court's notice that it lacks jurisdiction to try the complaint.

7) Section 258 of the Code is not applicable to complaints under Section 138 of the Act and findings to the contrary in Meters and Instruments (supra) do not lay down correct law. To conclusively deal with this aspect, amendment to the Act empowering the trial courts to reconsider/recall summons in respect of complaints under Section 138 shall be considered by the Committee constituted by an order of this court dated 10.03.2021.

8) All other points, which have been raised by the Amici Curiae in their preliminary report and written submissions and not considered herein, shall be the subject matter of deliberation by the aforementioned Committee. Any other issue relating to expeditious disposal of complaints under Section 138 of the Act shall also be considered by the Committee.

Case Title: Ram Dhari Pal Vs. State Of U.P. And 2 Others