ABDUL RAHIM Vs. AMAL KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE question that falls for consideration in connection with this revisional application is whether in view of the provisions of Section 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 a complaint can be filed by a person holding power to attorney of the payee of the cheque in respect of which an offence has been committed under Section 138 of the Act. The opposite party herein Amal Kumar Banerjee filed a complaint as the authorised representative of one G.S. Tewari @ Ganesh Shankar Tewari who was the payee of the concerned cheque issued by the petitioner herein. Section 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 runs thus:

(2.) IT has been argued by the learned Advocate for the petitioner that clause (a) of Section 142 specifically requires that the complaint has to be made by the payee or, as the case may be, the holder in due course of the cheque and that being so none else and not even the authorised agent of the payee can make the complaint. In the present case, the complaint has been filed by the authorised agent of the payee on the basis of a power of attorney executed by the payee in his favour. The question is whether the complaint filed by the authorised agent of the payee is maintainable in view of clause (a) of Section 142, N.I. Act.

(3.) ORDINARILY anyone can set the law in motion for prosecuting an offender and therefore anyone can make a complaint irrespective of the question whether the offence has been committed against the complainant and whether any injury was sustained by him. However, in some cases the law restricts the right to make a complaint only in favour of specified persons and where such restriction is placed it is not open to anybody and everybody to file a complaint in respect of any such matter. As for example, Section 195 Cr.P.C. contains provisions under which offence of certain nature specified therein complaint can be made only by those mentioned therein and not by any other. Section 199(1) Cr.P.C. also contains provisions restricting the right to make a complaint in respect of the offence of defamation to person aggrieved by the offence.