MEETA RAI Vs. GUISHAN MAHAJAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of this petition filed under Section 482, Cr. P.C. the petitioner seeks the quashing of the impugned complaint filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and the order of summoning passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Amritsar. The copy of the complaint has been placed on record as Annexure P-5 and the order of summoning has been placed on record as Annexure P-6. One of the grounds urged on behalf of the petitioner is that the impugned complaint has not been filed by the payee or the holder in due course of the cheque, which is alleged to have bounced and it was issued by the respondent. A perusal of the copy of the impugned complaint filed in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Amritsar (copy Annexure P-5) will show that the, complaint was filed by one Gulshan Mahajan son of Amar Nath Mahajan c/c Pioneer Press, Katra Sher Singh, Amritsar, in para 1 of the impugned complaint. It was averred as under: That the complainant is the husband of Sucheta Mahajan daughter of Shri Gian Chand Gupta and she has given authority letter for institution of the complaint against the accused for the dishonour of cheque. Even otherwise the complainant is fully conversant with the facts of the case on instant complaint.

(2.) Annexure P-7 is the copy of the authority letter, which is said to have been issued by Smt., Sucheta Mahajan wife of the complainant Shri Gulshan Mahajan and it reads as under:

(3.) It is not disputed that the cheque in question was issued in favour of Mrs. Sucheta Mahajan on 30-12-1993 for a sum of Rs. 2,75,000/- only and it was signed for RMS System and Chemical Speciality Pvt. Ltd. and signed by Shri. Sanjay Mahajan and M. Rat, it was drawn on Dena Bank, Nehru Place, New Delhi and was an Account Payee cheque vide Copy Annexure P-8/A with its photostat copy. Also Section 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act inter-alia provides notwithstanding anything contained in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (2 of 1974)