'Court can ask 25% of fine in cheque bounce cases'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that an appellate court is justified in insisting that convicts deposit 25% of fine imposed as a condition for suspending their sentence in cheque dishonour cases, which were filed even before the amendment in the Negotiable Instruments Act became operational.

The court said that in order to

“Negotiable Instruments Act has been amended from time to time so as to provide, inter alia, speedy disposal of cases relating to the offence of the dishonoured of cheques," the court said.

It further stated that the amendments were brought in to prevent injustice to the recipient of a dishonour cheque, who spends considerable time and resources in court proceedings. The deposit was a safeguard against unscrupulous people who might indulge in delay tactics due to the ease of filing appeal or obtaining a stay in such cases.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna rejected as without substance a batch of petitions filed by Surinder Singh Deswal and others, which contended that the amendment in Section 148 of the Act would not be made applicable retrospectively and more particularly with respect to complaints filed prior to implementation of the changes in the law, that is, September 1, 2018.

The court said this plea cannot be accepted, as by the amendment, no substantive right of appeal has been taken away or affected.

In the judgement, authored by Justice Bopanna, the court said if such a purposive interpretation was not adopted, the object and purpose of amendment in the law would be frustrated.

The top court upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court's judgement, which had dismissed the petitioners' plea against the trial court's order for depositing 25% of the compensation and fine on admitting their appeal against sentence of two years imprisonment. It, however, used its extra-ordinary power under the Constitution to grant four weeks time to deposit the amount.