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REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.18 OF 2013

Indian Bank Association and others … Petitioners

Versus

Union of India and others … Respondents

J U D G M E N T

K.S. Radhakrishnan, J.

1.This Writ Petition, under Article 32 of the Constitution

of India, has been preferred by the Indian Banks’

Association (IBA) along with Punjab National Bank and

another, seeking the following reliefs :-

a.Laying down appropriate guidelines/directions to be

followed by all Courts within the territory of India

competent to try a complaint under Section 138 of

the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (the Act) to

follow and comply with the mandate of Section 143 of

the said Act read with Sections 261 to 265 of Criminal

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Procedure Code, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) for summary trial of

such complaints filed or pending before the said

Courts.

b.Issue a writ of mandamus for compliance with the

guidelines of this Hon’ble Court indicating various

steps to be followed for summary trial of complaints

under Section 138 of the said Act and report to this

Hon’ble Court.

c.Issue a writ of mandamus, directing the respondents,

to adopt necessary policy and legislative changes to

deal with cases relating to dishonor of cheqeus so

that the same are expeditiously disposed off in

accordance with the intent of the Act and the

guidelines to be laid down by this Hon’ble Court.

2.The first petitioner, which is an Association of Persons

with 174 banks/financial institutions as its members, is a

voluntary association of banks and functions as think tank

for banks in the matters of concern for the whole banking

industry. The Petitioners submit that the issue raised in

this case is of considerable national importance owing to

the reason that in the era of globalization and rapid

technological developments, financial trust and

commercial interest have to be restored.

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3.The Petitioners submit that the banking industry has

been put to a considerable disadvantage due to the delay

in disposing of the cases relating to Negotiable

Instruments Act. The Petitioner banks being custodian of

public funds find it difficult to expeditiously recover huge

amount of public fund which are blocked in cases pending

under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,

1881. Petitioners submit that, in spite of the fact, Chapter

XIV has been introduced in the Negotiable Instruments Act

by Section 4 of the Banking, Public Financial Institutions

and Negotiable Instruments Laws (Amendment) Act, 1988,

to enhance the acceptability of cheques in settlement of

liability by making the drawer liable for penalties in case of

bouncing of cheques due to insufficiency of funds, the

desired object of the Amendment Act has not achieved.

4.Legislature has noticed that the introduction of

Sections 138 to 142 of the Act has not achieved desired

result for dealing with dishonoured cheques, hence, it

inserted new Sections 143 to 147 in the Negotiable

Instruments Act vide Negotiable Instruments (Amendment

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and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002 for speedy

disposal of cases relating to dishonour of cheques through

summary trial as well as making the offence

compoundable. But, no uniform practice is seen followed

by the various Magistrate Courts in the country, as a result

of which, the object and purpose for which the

amendments were incorporated, have not been achieved.

5.Cheque, though acknowledged as a bill of exchange

under the Negotiable Instruments Act and readily accepted

in lieu of payment of money and is negotiable, the fact

remains that the cheque as a negotiable instrument

started losing its credibility by not being honoured on

presentation. Chapter XVII was introduced, as already

indicated, so as to enhance the acceptability of cheques in

settlement of liabilities. The Statement of Objects and

Reasons appended with the Bill explaining the provisions

of the new Chapter reads as follows :-

“This clause [Clause (4) of the Bill] inserts a new

Chapter XVII in the Negotiable Instruments Act,

1881. The provisions contained in the new

Chapter provide that where any cheque drawn

by a person for the discharge of any liability is

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returned by the bank unpaid for the reason of

the insufficiency of the amount of money

standing to the credit of the account on which

the cheque was drawn or for the reason that it

exceeds the arrangements made by the drawer

of the cheque with the bankers for that account,

the drawer of such cheque shall be deemed to

have committed an offence. In that case, the

drawer, without prejudice to the other

provisions of the said Act, shall be punishable

with imprisonment for a term which may extend

to one year, or with fine which may extend to

twice the amount of the cheque, or with both.

The provisions have also been made that

to constitute the said offence:

(a) such cheque should have been presented to

the bank within a period of six months of the

date of its drawal or within the period of its

validity, whichever is earlier; and

(b) the payee or holder in due course of such

cheque should have made a demand for the

payment of the said amount of money by giving

a notice, in writing, to the drawer of the cheque

within fifteen days of the receipt of the

information by him from the bank regarding the

return of the cheque unpaid; and

(c) the drawer of such cheque should have

failed to make the payment of the said amount

of money to the payee or the holder in due

course of the cheque within fifteen days of the

receipt of the said notice.

It has also been provided that it shall be

presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that

the holder of such cheque received the cheque

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in the discharge of a liability. Defences which

may or may not be allowed in any prosecution

for such offence have also been provided to

make the provisions effective. Usual provision

relating to offences by companies has also been

included in the said new Chapter. In order to

ensure that genuine and honest bank customers

are not harassed or put to inconvenience,

sufficient safeguards have also been provided in

the proposed new Chapter. Such safeguards

are:

(a) that no court shall take cognizance of such

offence except on a complaint, in writing, made

by the payee or the holder in due course of the

cheque;

(b) that such complaint is made within one

month of the date on which the cause of action

arises; and

(c) that no court inferior to that of a

Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate

or a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class shall

try any such offence.”

6.The objectives of the proceedings of Section 138 of

the Act are that the cheques should not be used by

persons as a tool of dishonesty and when cheque is issued

by a person, it must be honoured and if it is not honoured,

the person is given an opportunity to pay the cheque

amount by issuance of a notice and if he still does not pay,

he must face the criminal trial and consequences. Section

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138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, is given

below for easy reference :-

“138. Dishonour of cheque for

insufficiency, etc., of funds in the account.

- Where any cheque drawn by a person on an

account maintained by him with a banker for

payment of any amount of money to another

person from out of that account for the

discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or

other liability, is returned by the bank unpaid,

either because of the amount of money

standing to the credit of that account is

insufficient to honour the cheque or that it

exceeds the amount arranged to be paid from

that account by an agreement made with that

bank, such person shall be deemed to have

committed an offence and shall, without

prejudice to any other provision of this Act, be

punished with imprisonment for a term which

may extend to one year, or with fine which may

extend to twice the amount of the cheque, or

with both:

Provided that nothing contained in this section

shall apply unless-

(a) the cheque has been presented to the bank

within a period of six months from the date on

which it is drawn or within the period of its

validity, whichever is earlier;

(b) the payee or the holder in due course of the

cheque, as the case may be, makes a demand

for the payment of the said amount of money

by giving a notice, in writing, to the drawer of

the cheque, within fifteen days of the receipt of

information by him from the bank regarding the

return of the cheque as unpaid; and

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(c) the drawer of such cheque fails to make the

payment of the said amount of money to the

payee or, as the case may be, to the holder in

due course of the cheque, within fifteen days of

the receipt of the said notice.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this section,

"debt or other liability" means a legally

enforceable debt or other liability.”

7.This Court in Electronics Trade & Technology

Development Corporation Ltd., Secunderabad v.

Indian Technologists & Engineers (Electronics) (P)

Ltd. and Another (1996) 2 SCC 739, held as follows:

“6.…..The object of bringing Section 138 on

statute appears to be to inculcate faith in the

efficacy of banking operations and credibility in

transacting business on negotiable instruments.

Despite civil remedy, Section 138 intended to

prevent dishonesty on the part of the drawer of

negotiable instrument to draw a cheque without

sufficient funds in his account maintained by him

in a book and induce the payee or holder in due

course to act upon it. Section 138 draws

presumption that one commits the offence if he

issues the cheque dishonestly. It is seen that

once the cueque has been drawn and issued to

the payee and the payee has presented the

cheque and thereafter, if any instructions are

issued to the bank for non-payment and the

cheque is returned to the payee with such an

endorsement, it amounts to dishonour of cheque

and it comes within the meaning of Section

138….”

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8.In Goa Plast (P) Ltd. v. Chico Ursula D’Souza

(2004) 2 SCC 235, this Court, while dealing with the

objects and ingredients of Sections 138 and 139 of the

Act, observed as follows :-

“The object and the ingredients under the

provisions, in particular, Sections 138 and 139

of the Act cannot be ignored. Proper and

smooth functioning of all business transactions,

particularly, of cheques as instruments,

primarily depends upon the integrity and

honesty of the parties. In our country, in a large

number of commercial transactions, it was

noted that the cheques were issued even

merely as a device not only to stall but even to

defraud the creditors. The sanctity and

credibility of issuance of cheques in commercial

transactions was eroded to a large extent.

Undoubtedly, dishonour of a cheque by the

bank causes incalculable loss, injury and

inconvenience to the payee and the entire

credibility of the business transactions within

and outside the country suffers a serious

setback. Parliament, in order to restore the

credibility of cheques as a trustworthy

substitute for cash payment enacted the

aforesaid provisions. The remedy available in a

civil court is a long-drawn matter and an

unscrupulous drawer normally takes various

pleas to defeat the genuine claim of the payee.”

9.We have indicated, Sections 138 to 142 of the Act

were found to be deficient in dealing with the dishonoured

cheques. In the said circumstances, the legislature

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inserted new Sections 143 to 147 by the Negotiable

Instruments (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions)

Act, 2002, which is brought into force w.e.f. 6

th

February,

2003. The object and reasons for the said Amendment

Act are of some importance and are given below :-

“1.The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was

amended by the Banking, Public Financial

Institutions and Negotiable Instruments Laws

(Amendment) Act, 1988 wherein a new Chapter

XVII was incorporated for penalties in case of

dishonour of cheques due to insufficiency of

funds in the account of the drawer of the

cheque. These provisions were incorporated

with a view to encourage the culture of use of

cheques and enhancing the credibility of the

instrument. The existing provisions in the

Negotiable Instruments Act,1881, namely,

sections 138 to 142 in Chapter XVII have been

found deficient in dealing with dishonour of

cheques. Not only the punishment provided in

the Act has proved to be inadequate, the

procedure prescribed for the Courts to deal with

such matters has been found to be

cumbersome. The Courts are unable to dispose

of such cases expeditiously in a time bound

manner in view of the procedure contained in

the Act.

2. A large number of cases are reported to be

pending under sections 138 to 142 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act in various courts in

the country. Keeping in view the large number

of complaints under the said Act pending in

various courts, a Working Group was

constituted to review section 138 of the

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Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and make

recommendations as to what changes were

needed to effectively achieve the purpose of

that section.

3. The recommendations of the Working Group

along with other representations from various

institutions and organisations were examined

by the Government in consultation with the

Reserve Bank of India and other legal experts,

and a Bill, namely, the Negotiable Instruments

(Amendment) Bill, 2001 was introduced in the

Lok Sabha on 24th July, 2001. The Bill was

referred to Standing Committee on Finance

which made certain recommendations in its

report submitted to Lok Sabha in November,

2001.

4. Keeping in view the recommendations of the

Standing Committee on Finance and other

representations, it has been decided to bring

out, inter alia, the following amendments in the

Negotiable Instruments Act,1881, namely:—

(i) to increase the punishment as prescribed

under the Act from one year to two years;

(ii) to increase the period for issue of notice by

the payee to the drawer from 15 days to 30

days;

(iii) to provide discretion to the Court to waive

the period of one month, which has been

prescribed for taking cognizance of the case

under the Act;

(iv) to prescribe procedure for dispensing with

preliminary evidence of the complainant;

(v) to prescribe procedure for servicing of

summons to the accused or witness by the

Court through speed post or empanelled private

couriers;

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(vi) to provide for summary trial of the cases

under the Act with a view to speeding up

disposal of cases;

(vii) to make the offences under the Act

compoundable;

(viii) to exempt those directors from prosecution

under section 141 of the Act who are nominated

as directors of a company by virtue of their

holding any office or employment in the Central

Government or State Government or a financial

corporation owned or controlled by the Central

Government, or the State Government, as the

case may be;

(ix) to provide that the Magistrate trying an

offence shall have power to pass sentence of

imprisonment for a term exceeding one year

and amount of fine exceeding five thousand

rupees;

(x) to make the Information Technology Act,

2000 applicable to the Negotiable Instruments

Act,1881 in relation to electronic cheques and

truncated cheques subject to such modifications

and amendments as the Central Government, in

consultation with the Reserve Bank of India,

considers necessary for carrying out the

purposes of the Act, by notification in the

Official Gazette; and

(xi) to amend definitions of "bankers' books"

and "certified copy" given in the Bankers' Books

Evidence Act,1891.

5. The proposed amendments in the Act are

aimed at early disposal of cases relating to

dishonour of cheques, enhancing punishment

for offenders, introducing electronic image of a

truncated cheque and a cheque in the

electronic form as well as exempting an official

nominee director from prosecution under the

Negotiable Instruments Act,1881.

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6. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.”

10.Section 143 of the Act introduced by 2002

Amendment reads as follows :-

“143. Power of Court to try cases

summarily.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, all offences

under this Chapter shall be tried by a Judicial

Magistrate of the first class or by a Metropolitan

Magistrate and the provisions of Sections 262 to

265 (both inclusive) of the said Code shall, as

far as may be, apply to such trials:

Provided that in the case of any conviction in a

summary trial under this section, it shall be

lawful for the Magistrate to pass a sentence of

imprisonment for a term not exceeding one

year and an amount of fine exceeding five

thousand rupees:

Provided further that when at the

commencement of, or in the course of, a

summary trial under this section, it appears to

the Magistrate that the nature of the case is

such that a sentence of imprisonment for a term

exceeding one year may have to be passed or

that it is, for any other reason, undesirable to

try the case summarily, the Magistrate shall

after hearing the parties, record an order to that

effect and thereafter recall any witness who

may have been examined and proceed to hear

or rehear the case in the manner provided by

the said Code.

(2) The trial of a case under this section shall,

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so far as practicable, consistently with the

interests of justice, be continued from day to

day until its conclusion, unless the Court finds

the adjournment of the trial beyond the

following day to be necessary for reasons to be

recorded in writing.

(3) Every trial under this section shall be

conducted as expeditiously as possible and an

endeavour shall be made to conclude the trial

within six months from the date of filing of the

complaint.”

11.Section 145 of the Act deals with the evidence on

affidavit and reads as follows :

“145. Evidence on affidavit.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, (2 of 1974.)

the evidence of the complainant may be given

by him on affidavit and may, subject to all just

exceptions, be read in evidence in any enquiry,

trial or other proceeding under the said Code.

(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, and shall, on

the application of the prosecution or the

accused, summon and examine any person

giving evidence on affidavit as to the facts

contained therein.”

12.The scope of Section 145 came up for consideration

before this Court in Mandvi Cooperative Bank Limited

v. Nimesh B. Thakore (2010) 3 SCC 83, and the same

was explained in that judgment stating that the legislature

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provided for the complainant to give his evidence on

affidavit, but did not provide the same for the accused.

The Court held that even though the legislature in their

wisdom did not deem it proper to incorporate a word

“accused” with the word “complainant” in Section 145(1),

it does not mean that the Magistrate could not allow the

complainant to give his evidence on affidavit, unless there

was just and reasonable ground to refuse such

permission.

13.This Court while examining the scope of Section 145

in Radhey Shyam Garg v. Naresh Kumar Gupta

(2009) 13 SCC 201, held as follows :-

“If an affidavit in terms of the provisions of

Section 145 of the Act is to be considered to be

an evidence, it is difficult to comprehend as to

why the court will ask the deponent of the said

affidavit to examine himself with regard to the

contents thereof once over again. He may be

cross-examined and upon completion of his

evidence, he may be re-examined. Thus, the

words “examine any person giving evidence on

affidavit as to the facts contained therein, in the

event, the deponent is summoned by the court

in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 145 of the

Act”, in our opinion, would mean for the

purpose of cross-examination. The provision

seeks to attend a salutary purpose.”

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14.Considerable time is usually spent for recording the

statement of the complainant. The question is whether

the Court can dispense with the appearance of the

complainant, instead, to take steps to accept the affidavit

of the complainant and treat the same as examination-in-

chief. Section 145(1) gives complete freedom to the

complainant either to give his evidence by way of affidavit

or by way of oral evidence. The Court has to accept the

same even if it is given by way of an affidavit. Second

part of Section 145(1) provides that the complainant’s

statement on affidavit may, subject to all just exceptions,

be read in evidence in any inquiry, trial or other

proceedings. Section 145 is a rule of procedure which

lays down the manner in which the evidence of the

complainant may be recorded and once the Court issues

summons and the presence of the accused is secured, an

option be given to the accused whether, at that stage, he

would be willing to pay the amount due along with

reasonable interest and if the accused is not willing to

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pay, Court may fix up the case at an early date and

ensure day-to-day trial.

15.Section 143 empowers the Court to try cases for

dishonour of cheques summarily in accordance with the

provisions of Section 262 to 265 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973. The relevant provisions being Sections

262 to 264 are extracted hereinbelow for easy reference :

“262. Procedure for summary trials.

(1) In trials under this Chapter, the procedure

specified in this Code for the trial of summons-

ease shall be followed except as hereinafter

mentioned.

(2) No sentence of imprisonment for a term

exceeding three months shall be passed in the

case of any conviction under this Chapter.

263.Record in summary trials.-

In every case tried summarily, the Magistrate

shall enter, in such form as the State

Government may direct, the following

particulars, namely:-

(a) the serial number of the case:

(b) the date of the commission of the offence;

(c) the date of the report or complaint;

(d) the name of the complainant (if any);

(e) the name, parentage and residence of the

accused;

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(f) the offence complained of and the offence (if

any) proved, and in cases coming under clause

(ii), clause (iii) or clause (iv) of sub-section (1) of

section 260, the value of the property in respect

of which the offence has been committed;

(g) the plea of the accused and his examination

(if any);

(h) the finding;

(i) the sentence or other final order

(j) the date on which proceedings terminated.

264. Judgment in cases tried summarily. –

In every case tried summarily in which the

accused does not plead guilty, the Magistrate

shall record the substance of the evidence and

a judgment containing a brief statement of the

reasons for the finding.”

16.We have indicated that under Section 145 of the Act,

the complainant can give his evidence by way of an

affidavit and such affidavit shall be read in evidence in

any inquiry, trial or other proceedings in the Court, which

makes it clear that a complainant is not required to

examine himself twice i.e. one after filing the complaint

and one after summoning of the accused. Affidavit and

the documents filed by the complainant along with

complaint for taking cognizance of the offence are good

enough to be read in evidence at both the stages i.e. pre-

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summoning stage and the post summoning stage. In

other words, there is no necessity to recall and re-

examine the complaint after summoning of accused,

unless the Magistrate passes a specific order as to why

the complainant is to be recalled. Such an order is to be

passed on an application made by the accused or under

Section 145(2) of the Act suo moto by the Court. In

summary trial, after the accused is summoned, his plea is

to be recorded under Section 263(g) Cr.P.C. and his

examination, if any, can be done by a Magistrate and a

finding can be given by the Court under Section 263(h)

Cr.P.C. and the same procedure can be followed by a

Magistrate for offence of dishonour of cheque since

offence under Section 138 of the Act is a document based

offence. We make it clear that if the proviso (a), (b) & (c)

to Section 138 of the Act are shown to have been

complied with, technically the commission of the offence

stands completed and it is for the accused to show that no

offence could have been committed by him for specific

reasons and defences.

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17.Procedure for summary case has itself been

explained by this Court in Nitinbhai Saevantilal Shah

and another v. Manubhai Manjibhai Panchal and

another (2011) 9 SCC 638, wherein this Court held as

under :

“12. Provision for summary trials is made in

Chapter XXI of the Code. Section 260 of the

Code confers power upon any Chief Judicial

Magistrate or any Metropolitan Magistrate or

any Magistrate of the First Class specially

empowered in this behalf by the High Court to

try in a summary way all or any of the offences

enumerated therein. Section 262 lays down the

procedure for summary trial and sub-section (1)

thereof inter alia prescribes that in summary

trials the procedure specified in the Code for the

trial of summons case shall be followed subject

to the condition that no sentence of

imprisonment for a term exceeding three

months is passed in case of any conviction

under the chapter.

13. The manner in which the record in

summary trials is to be maintained is provided

in Section 263 of the Code. Section 264

mentions that in every case tried summarily in

which the accused does not plead guilty, the

Magistrate shall record the substance of the

evidence and a judgment containing a brief

statement of the reasons for the finding. Thus,

the Magistrate is not expected to record full

evidence which he would have been, otherwise

required to record in a regular trial and his

judgment should also contain a brief statement

of the reasons for the finding and not elaborate

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reasons which otherwise he would have been

required to record in regular trials.”

18.Amendment Act, 2002 has to be given effect to in its

letter and spirit. Section 143 of the Act, as already

indicated, has been inserted by the said Act stipulating

that notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of

Criminal Procedure, all offences contained in Chapter XVII

of the Negotiable Instruments Act dealing with dishonour

of cheques for insufficiency of funds, etc. shall be tried by

a Judicial Magistrate and the provisions of Sections 262 to

265 Cr.P.C. prescribing procedure for summary trials, shall

apply to such trials and it shall be lawful for a Magistrate

to pass sentence of imprisonment for a term not

exceeding one year and an amount of fine exceeding

Rs.5,000/- and it is further provided that in the course of a

summary trial, if it appears to the Magistrate that the

nature of the case requires passing of the sentence of

imprisonment exceeding one year, the Magistrate, after

hearing the parties, record an order to that effect and

thereafter recall any witness and proceed to hear or

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rehear the case in the manner provided in Criminal

Procedure Code.

19.This Court in Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed

Babalal H. (2010) 5 SCC 663, laid down certain

guidelines while interpreting Sections 138 and 147 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act to encourage litigants in

cheque dishonour cases to opt for compounding during

early stages of litigation to ease choking of criminal justice

system for graded scheme of imposing costs on parties

who unduly delay compounding of offence, and for

controlling of filing of complaints in multiple jurisdictions

relatable to same transaction, which have also to be

borne in mind by the Magistrate while dealing with cases

under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

20.We notice, considering all those aspects, few High

Courts of the country have laid down certain procedures

for speedy disposal of cases under Section 138 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act. Reference, in this

connection, may be made to the judgments of the

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Bombay High Court in KSL and Industries Ltd. v.

Mannalal Khandelwal and The State of Maharashtra

through the Office of the Government Pleader

(2005) CriLJ 1201, Indo International Ltd. and another

v. State of Maharashtra and another (2005) 44 Civil

CC (Bombay) and Harischandra Biyani v. Stock

Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (2006) 4 MhLJ 381,

the judgment of the Calcutta High Court in Magma

Leasing Ltd. v. State of West Bengal and others

(2007) 3 CHN 574 and the judgment of the Delhi High

Court in Rajesh Agarwal v. State and another (2010)

ILR 6 Delhi 610.

21.Many of the directions given by the various High

Courts, in our view, are worthy of emulation by the

Criminal Courts all over the country dealing with cases

under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, for

which the following directions are being given :-

DIRECTIONS:

(1) Metropolitan Magistrate/Judicial Magistrate

(MM/JM), on the day when the complaint under

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Section 138 of the Act is presented, shall

scrutinize the complaint and, if the complaint is

accompanied by the affidavit, and the affidavit

and the documents, if any, are found to be in

order, take cognizance and direct issuance of

summons.

(2) MM/JM should adopt a pragmatic and realistic

approach while issuing summons. Summons must

be properly addressed and sent by post as well as

by e-mail address got from the complainant.

Court, in appropriate cases, may take the

assistance of the police or the nearby Court to

serve notice to the accused. For notice of

appearance, a short date be fixed. If the

summons is received back un-served, immediate

follow up action be taken.

(3) Court may indicate in the summon that if the

accused makes an application for compounding of

offences at the first hearing of the case and, if

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such an application is made, Court may pass

appropriate orders at the earliest.

(4) Court should direct the accused, when he

appears to furnish a bail bond, to ensure his

appearance during trial and ask him to take notice

under Section 251Cr.P.C. to enable him to enter

his plea of defence and fix the case for defence

evidence, unless an application is made by the

accused under Section 145(2) for re-calling a

witness for cross-examination.

(5)The Court concerned must ensure that

examination-in-chief, cross-examination and re-

examination of the complainant must be

conducted within three months of assigning the

case. The Court has option of accepting affidavits

of the witnesses, instead of examining them in

Court. Witnesses to the complaint and accused

must be available for cross-examination as and

when there is direction to this effect by the Court.

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22.We, therefore, direct all the Criminal Courts in the

country dealing with Section 138 cases to follow the

above-mentioned procedures for speedy and expeditious

disposal of cases falling under Section 138 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act.

23.Writ Petition is, accordingly, disposed of, as above.

…..………………………J.

(K.S. Radhakrishnan)

………………………….J.

(Vikramajit Sen)

New Delhi,

April 21, 2014.