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August 2008

Dishonour of cheque : Only the drawer of cheque can be held liable for the offence : Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, S. 138, S. 141.

By Dr. K. Shivaram, Ajay R. Singh, Advocates
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21 Dishonour of cheque : Only the drawer of cheque can be
held liable for the offence : Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, S. 138, S. 141.


Where the wife was joint account holder alongwith her husband
and cheque was issued by husband, which was dishonoured, the wife cannot be held
liable for the offence u/s.141 of the Act.

The Court observed that there is no such provision regarding
taking cognisance against a person other than the ‘drawer’ of the cheque. It is
manifest from the expression of the words used in S. 138 of the Act “such person
shall be deemed to have committed the offence” related to the person who has
drawn the cheque in favour of the payee and if the said cheque is returned
unpaid on account of the conditions mentioned u/s.138 of the Act, such person
alone is liable, but not other except the contingencies mentioned u/s.141 of the
Act. The accused husband could alone be saddled with culpable liability as he
was the only ‘drawer’ of the cheque.

[ Smt. Bandeep Kaur v. S. Avneet Singh, AIR 2008 (NOC)
1301 (P&H)]


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