M SUBRAMANIAM Vs. P RATHINAKUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner is the sole accused in S.T.C. No. 1881 of 1991, pending on the file of Judicial Magistrate, Mettupalayam. He is being prosecuted for having allegedly committed an offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, on a private complaint initiated by the respondent.

(2.) In this petition preferred under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to call for the records and quash the pending prosecution as not maintainable and an abuse of process of Court, two grounds were urged by petitioner's counsel. The first ground was that the allegations in the complaint are so vague, that cognizance could not have been taken by the trial Magistrate. The second ground was that endorsement by the Banker "refer to drawer" cannot be held to be either due to insufficiency of funds in the accounts to honour the cheque, or because the amount shown in the cheque exceeded the arrangement and hence it has to be necessarily held that no offence under Section 138 of the Act stood committed.

(3.) On both these grounds of challenge, I have heard learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent.