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PART 1 - THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE FILING DEFAMATION COMPLAINT

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
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PART 1: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS AND STAGES IN A CHEQUE BOUNCE COMPLAINT?

First things first, in order to file a Cheque Bounce Complaint before the Magistrate, the Stages of Trial in such case needs to be understood, which is as follows:

STAGES OF TRIAL IN A CHEQUE BOUNCE CASE

1. Appearance of Accused

2. Plea Recording of Accused (‘Guilty’ OR ‘Not Guilty’)

3. Evidence Stage

4. Final Arguments

5. Judgment 

 

Now, let us start with the practical procedure in a Cheque Bounce case and along with some FAQs that a Complainant/Accused must be aware about during the entire court case.

 


 

A.   FILING THE COMPLAINT

After the Accused Person fails to pay the cheque amount to you within the statutory time limit of 15 days period mentioned under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (“NI Act”), the Complainant must file a Complainant before the Magistrate within the next 30 days.

QUES. How to know the exact Magistrate or Court premises for filing the Cheque Bounce Complaint?

Step 1: Find out the Police station which has jurisdiction over your Bank Branch in which you are maintaining your account from where the cheque got bounced.

Step 2: Call that Police Station and ask them the Magistrate’s name or the Court No. where all the cases related to this Police Station are being filed. This is the Magistrate/Court where your matter must be filed.

Step 3: To be at the safer side, either phone-call or visit the relevant Magistrate Court premises and ask them if there is a specific Magistrate/Court dedicated to hear and decide Cheque Bounce cases. If there is no such dedicated Magistrate/Court to deal with cheque bounce matters, then your case must be filed before such Magistrate which has jurisdiction over the Police Station which you found out in Step 2 above.

 

B.   SUMMONS NOTICE ISSUED AGAINST THE ACCUSED:

On the first date of hearing of this matter, you will have to prima-facie satisfy the Magistrate that the essential requirements of a cheque bounce case is being fulfilled, i.e. (1) CHEQUE WAS ISSUED BY ACCUSED; (2) CHEQUE WAS ISSUED TOWARDS A LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE DEBT & (3) THE CHEQUE GOT DISHONOURED

In order to prima-facie prove the above requirements, a written Verification Statement u/s. 200 of CrPC is required to be filed before the Magistrate on this date. However, the Magistrate may deny a written Verification Statement and instead record the Verification Statement of Complainant orally. In such case, the Complainant will be required to narrate the relevant factual incidents of this case to the Magistrate, in such a way that that the above 03 essential requirements seem to be fulfilled from your oral verification statement recorded by the Magistrate.

If the Magistrate feels that all the above essentials are fulfilled, the Magistrate will issue a Summon against the Accused. In simpler terms, the Magistrate will order the Accused to be present in the court premises on the next date of hearing.

 

Ques. What is the meaning of Legally Enforceable Debt?

Ans. Any debt which has arisen out of a legal contract, whether written or oral, between two parties. For eg: A contract between a seller and buyer of steel products; between an Actor and Producer of a Movie; between an Employer and Employee of a certain Firm.


Ques. How will the Accused come to know about the Court order/Summons?

Ans. The Court Bailiff is responsible for sending the Summons to the Accused person’ address via Speed Post/RPAD or otherwise.


Ques: Can I (i.e. Complainant) privately inform the Accused about the next date of the hearing?

Ans: Yes, the Complainant can privately inform the Accused about the next date of hearing via Email/Speed Post/RPAD. The motive of the Magistrate behind issuing a Summon is that the Accused person appears on the next date to face the trial. The source of information does not matter.

 

Ques: Can I directly send the ‘Summon’ document at the Accused address?

Ans: Yes, the Complainant, with the permission of the Magistrate, can send the ‘Summons’ on behalf of the Court, via Speed Post/RPAD. All postal charges shall be borne by you. On the next date of hearing, the Complainant must file an Affidavit of Service stating that the Summon has been duly served at the Accused person’s address, along with the proof of such service.

 

FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE ACCUSED…..?

EVIDENCE STAGE…..? 

FINAL ARGUMENTS …..?

JUDGMENT ….?

 

While starting this Shorticle, I did not imagine it to become this lengthy. For the time being, let us focus and try to grasp the content of this shorticle first. The remaining content will be uploaded in some time.

Also, there is a reason I call these SHORTICLES! 

 

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NEXT BLOG ON:

PART 2: PRACTICALINSIGHTS AND STAGES IN A CHEQUE BOUNCE COMPLAINT?

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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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Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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