Question of law
The question which appellant urges is regarding tenability of the trial court’s order of 24.05.2022 whereby he was directed to deposit 10% of the amount of a dishonored cheque under Section 143A of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The appellant argues that the order requiring such deposit was made by the Magistrate at a stage prior to when notice under Section 251 was sent to the accused petitioner.
The learned senior counsel Mr. Siddharth Dave relied upon the text of Section 143 A which reads as follows:
It was argued in sum that the stage for making such an order would arise only when the accused is not guilty to the accusation in the complaint.
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Question of law answered
As is evident from plain reading of Section 143A (1)(a), it is only where the accused “pleads not guilty” of the accusation made in the complaint that interim compensation under Section 143A (1) can be granted. In the present case, the Magistrate did not issue the order after the plea of the accused was entered, but before that i.e. after he answered the summons. The parties counsels were present at an intermediate stage of proceedings, but before the plea of “not guilty” was entered.
In these circumstances, clearly there is an infraction of Section 143A (1).
The order dated 24.05.2022 made by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. in Complaint No. 50/2021 cannot therefore be sustained and is hereby quashed.
Appeal allowed.
PAWAN BHASIN Petitioner(s) VERSUS STATE OF U.P. & ANR. Respondent(s) – CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 1807 / 2023 – 07th JULY 2023.
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Further study on this subject
S.143A N.I Act – Interim compensation direction – reason is necessary
Additional study: Section 139 N.I Act – Rebuttable presumption – Explained
