NEW DELHI:For Delhi-based interior designer Meenakshi Arora, the last four years have been a nightmare. After remodelling the interiors of a Hyderabad-based company, Arora was issued a cheque by that company which bounced. And, she has been shuttling between the two cities in a bid to get her money back.
Though Arora tried to settle the issue amicably, things did not work out. She had no other option but to fight the legal case at a court in Hyderabad to get back her dues of Rs 2 lakh. “It’s been four years and I have spent almost the same amount in travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad to attend the court hearing, and it has yielded no result,” Meenakshi said, while welcoming the decision of the Cabinet, which now allows a person to fight the case in the state where the victim is residing in.
Earlier, a legal case could only be filed at a place where the company or firm is registered. But on Wednesday, the Cabinet cleared the amendment of the Negotiable Instruments Act allowing people to file cases in the city where the cheque is presented.
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015, in the process has overturned a 2014 Supreme Court ruling. So far, victims of cheque-bouncing cases had to make endless trips to the city or town housing the bank branch that had dishonoured the cheque.
The Cabinet decision enables the amalgamation of various cases against one person or firm as one. So, in a bid to keep a check on piling up of cheque-bounce cases in courts across India, the new move will help the trial courts to dispose of the cases faster. Forty lakh such cases are pending.
Though the government and courts are trying to dispose of the cases by holding special Lok Adalats at the national and district levels, the effort is yet to yield much result.
In the new procedure, on the day when the complaint under Section 138 of the NI Act is presented, the Metropolitan Magistrate shall scrutinise the complaint. And, if the complaint is accompanied by the affidavit and the documents, then it can take cognisance and direct to issue summons. “Summons can also be served through emails and a date will be set for the accused to turn up in the court,” a Law Ministry official said.
The court may signal in the summons that if the accused makes an application for compounding of offences at the first hearing and, if such an application is made, the case may be disposed of on the same day. “The process of examination-in-chief, cross-examination and re-examination of the complainant must be conducted within three months of assigning the case,” said the official.
Actions that Lead to a Bouncing Case
■ Drawing of the cheque
■ Presentation of the cheque to the bank
■ Returning the cheque unpaid by the drawee bank
■ Giving notice in writing to the drawer of the cheque demanding payment of the amount within 30 days of the dishonouring ofthe cheque
■ Failure of the drawer to make payment within 15 days of the receipt ofthe notice
New Guidelines
■ Issuing of summons via email
■ Settling the case on the first hearing itself if the accused admits mistake
■ Entire trial to be completed in three months
■ Case can be filed at a place where the cheque is presented