BEST BUILDWELL PVT. LTD. Vs. R.D. SALES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed under Sec. 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik SurakshaSanhita, 2023, seeking quashing of the summons dtd. 18/9/2024 and the consequential proceedings arising out of CC No. 4878/2024 titled "R.D. Sales v. M/s. Best Buildwell Pvt. Ltd. and Ors."

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts as per the petition are that the petitioners and the respondent have had longstanding business dealings, and in relation to their most recent transaction in November"December 2023, the petitioners issued two cheques dtd. 10/11/2023 and 11/12/2023 for Rs.2,40,000.00each towards the payment of TMT bars, with the mutual understanding that the cheques would not be presented without prior intimation and consent. On 22/1/2024, the petitioners' bank account was provisionally attached by the CGST Department under Sec. 83 of the CGST Act, 2017, thereby prohibiting any debit transactions.

(3.) It has been submitted that petitioners duly informed the respondent of this attachment in January 2024 and requested that the cheques be not presented until the account was de-freezed. Notwithstanding this, the respondent presented the cheques on 8/2/2024, which were returned unpaid on 20/2/2024 due to the attachment, although the bank memo erroneously recorded the reason as 'insufficient funds'. A legal notice dtd. 16/3/2024 was received by the petitioners on 18/3/2024, to which they replied on 27/3/2024, enclosing relevant documents and raising legal objections. Nevertheless, the respondent proceeded to file Complaint Case No. 4878/2024 under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 on 18/4/2024, pursuant to which the Ld. Trial Court passed the impugned summoning order dtd. 18/9/2024.