SHARDA POLYCOLOURS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners who are the accused accused nos.1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively in Complaint Case No.493/SS/2011, pending before the Metropolitan Magistrate, 6th Court, at Mazgaon, Mumbai, challenge the territorial jurisdiction of the learned Magistrate to entertain the said complaint and try the case .

(2.) The petitioner no.1 is a Private Limited Company, and the other petitioners are the Directors thereof. The said case is in respect of an offence punishable under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (hereinafter referred to as "N.I.Act" for the sake of brevity), and has been initiated on a complaint filed by the respondent no.2 also a Private Limited Company herein. For the sake of convenience and clarity, the respondent no.2 shall hereinafter be referred to as 'the complainant' and the petitioners as 'the accused'.

(3.) The case of the complainant company is that, it had, as per the orders placed by the accused from time to time, supplied Titenium Dioxide to the accused company, and that the accused issued eight cheques to the complainant towards the discharge of their liability. The complaint, however, has been lodged only with respect to six cheques, the particulars of which are mentioned at Sr. Nos.3 to 8 in the table contained in paragraph no.9 of the complaint. The cheques were deposited by the complainant company in their different bank accounts, held by them in Banks at Mumbai. The cheques were dishonored with the remark "payment stopped by the drawer". Since after a demand notice calling upon the accused to make payment of the amounts mentioned in the said cheques, the accused failed to pay the amounts, the complaint came to be lodged.