Being aggrieved of the ruthless comments made upon Birbal by Akbar (His Majesty) in front of the entire Darbar, Birbal has decided to file a Defamation Complaint before the Court of Law. (If you feel clueless, read the first paragraph of - PREVIEW OF DEFAMATION COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE ) Also, Birbal is clueless about the legal process, so he approached Me ( Note: this anecdote is fictional, if you have not realized till now). I had to tell him the following information to make him aware about “Defamation Case Procedures in Indian Courts” in exchange of some legal-fee of course: SECTION 499: Defamation is a Criminal offence under Section 499 of Indian Penal Code . This legal provision contains the legal definition of ‘Defamation’, which has to be followed by Courts and the judicial fraternity in order to convict or acquit an Accused person. Short-Gyan: Did you know that making defamatory comments against a dead individual is also a criminal defamation offence! PUNISHMENT: Upon
INTRODUCTION POST
While the offence of “Cheque Bounce”, in the opinion of the Supreme Court, is a legit “criminal offence” in the skin of a “civil offence” surrounding, however, the phrase “cheque bounce” is a relatable term for many Indian households, either by virtue of them being involved in the offence or maybe their parents/relatives involved in the same, at some or the other point of time.
Having worked on several cheque bounce offences during my small advocacy career (ongoing), I have realized something about the clients belonging to non-legal background. They always tend to have 50% knowledge about the functioning and procedural knowledge of a cheque bounce court proceedings, which is both a vice and a virtue for them.
Through this 2nd Shorticle Series “CHEQUE BOUNCE PROCEEDINGS IN INDIAN COURTS”, I will make sure that an individual has enough knowledge about the cheque bounce case procedure, so as to minimize the surprise factor during the hearings of his case.
WHAT THINGS ARE ESSENTIAL TO INITIATE CHEQUE BOUNCE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SOMEONE:
1. ORIGINAL DISHONORED CHEQUE: The cheque which you deposited in the bank and got dishonored; and
2. ORIGINAL CHEQUE-RETURN MEMO: The cheque return memo is a receipt issued by the Bank, when a cheque gets dishonoured/bounced. Such memo is handed over by the Bank to such account holder, in whose favour the cheque was deposited into.
WHAT THINGS MAY SUPPORT
YOUR CASE (BUT ARE NOT ESSENTIAL) FOR INITIATING CHEQUE BOUNCE PROCEEDINGS:
1. WRITTEN AGREEMENT BETWEEN PARTIES: Any written Agreement which shows that the Accused has handed over a cheque of so-and-so amount to you towards the “discharge of some debt”. It is important that the debt amount is either similar to the cheque amount, or is more than the cheque amount.
2. WHATSAPP/EMAIL CONVERSATION SHOWING THE REASON BEHIND ISSUE OF CHEQUE: Whatsapp and/or email conversations between you and the Accused person can add as supporting evidence in your cheque bounce case.
It is great if you have the above supporting evidences, or any other evidences, along with the mandatory “Dishonored Cheque” and “Return Memo”.
Usually people feel that in order to evidence a business relationship between the accused and complainant, an Agreement, Stamp Paper etc. is extremely necessary to file a cheque bounce case in Courts, however, that is not true.
The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 under Section 118 gives the Complainant a benefit of “Presumption of guilt against the Accused”. In simple terms, section 118 says that if the cheque(s) has bounced, then it must be presumed, without any further evidence, that such cheque was issued to the complainant by the accused towards “discharge of some debt”. However, such presumption can be rebutted by the Accused in future, if he can prove at the time of Evidence stage, that the cheque was issued towards something else and not towards the transaction that the Complainant is claiming in his complaint. At such point of time, the Complainant’s case may fall on the ground.
THE ABOVE SITUATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCE IS SHOWN ONLY TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE CHEQUE AND THE RETURN MEMO ARE THE ONLY ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING A CHEQUE BOUNCE CASE BEFORE A MAGISTRATE COURT.
But, what about the procedure from scratch? What are the steps involved in successfully filing a Cheque Bounce Compliant against an Accused in Magistrate Court?
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NEXT BLOG ON:
WHAT IS THE STEP-BY-STEPPROCEDURE FOR FILING A CHEQUE BOUNCE COMPLAINT AGAINST THE ACCUSED?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Advocate Shreyas Jain, being a legal practitioner based in Mumbai, specializes in Criminal Law and primarily deal with criminal matters placed before Metropolitan Magistrates and Session Courts at Mumbai & Thane. Mr. Jain is a first generation lawyer and believes in working and excelling at the ground level before going big. You may reach him at +91-7054407778 or through his e-mail jainshreyas1995@gmail.com
NOTE: VIEWS MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE ARE PERSONAL AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY PERSON, PLACE, ORGANISATION OR ANY OTHER FALLING UNDER THE DEFINITION OF ‘PERSON’ UNDER INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860.
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