Supreme Court - Daily Orders
In Re Expeditious Trial Of Cases Under ... vs Mukunda on 16 April, 2021
Bench: Chief Justice, L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai, A.S. Bopanna, S. Ravindra Bhat
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ITEM NO.501 Court No.1 (Video Conferencing) SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Suo Motu Writ Petition (Criminal) No.2/2020
IN RE : EXPEDITIOUS TRIAL OF CASES UNDER SECTION 138 OF N.I. ACT
1881
[Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Senior Advocate(.A.C) and Mr. K.Parameshwar,
Advocate (A.C.) ]
(With IA No. 5070/2021 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS
IA No. 121371/2020 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS
IA No. 29900/2021 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN FILING REPLY AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 6909/2021 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 125606/2020 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 108282/2020 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 27192/2021 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 13743/2021 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING AFFIDAVIT
IA No. 105142/2020 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 6927/2021 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
IA No. 29902/2021 - EXEMPTION FROM PERSONAL APPEARANCE
IA No. 121370/2020 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON)
Date : 16-04-2021 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. NAGESWARA RAO
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B.R. GAVAI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT
By Courts Motion
Counsel for the parties
Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv. (A.C)
Mr. K. Parameshwar, Adv. (A.C.)
Mr. M. V. Mukunda, Adv.
Ms. A. Sregurupriya, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Mathur, Adv.
Mr. Anmol Kheta, Adv.
Mr. Sheezan Hashmi, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Akshat Kumar, Adv.
Digitally signed by
Sanjay Kumar
Date: 2021.04.16
17:17:30 IST
Reason: Mr. Tushar Mehta, Ld. SG
Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, Ld. ASG.
Mrs. Neela Kedar Gokhle, Adv.
Mr. P. V. Yogeshwaran, Adv.
Mr. Divyansh H. Rathi, Adv.
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Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Manisha Ambwani, AOR
Mr. G.S. Makker, AOR
Mr. Saumya Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Neeraj, AAG
Mr. Piyush Beriwal, Adv.
Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR
Mr. Aviral Saxena, Adv.
Mr. Vishwa Pal Singh, AOR
Mr. Mahfooz A. Nazki, AOR
Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Adv.
Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Adv.
Mr. T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Adv.
Mr. Amitabh Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Shrey Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR
Mr. Ashish Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Rakshit Jain, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Banshal, Adv.
Mrs. Garima Prashad, AAG
Mr. Abhinav Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Harpreet Singh Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Standing Counsel/Adv.
Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Anupam Raina, AOR
Mr. Sunando Raha, Adv.
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR
Ms. Sweena Nair, Adv.
Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR
Mrs. Garima Prashad, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Agrawal, AOR
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Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR
Mr. S. Prabhu Ramasubramanian, Adv.
Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Mr. Raja Rajeshwaran S, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Chadha, Adv.
Ms. Uma Prasuna Bachu, Adv.
Mrs. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR
Ms. Mandakini Singh, Adv.
Mr. Karanvir Gogia, Adv.
Ms. Shivangi Singhal, Adv.
Ms. Ashima Mandla, Adv.
Mr. Yashvardhan, Adv,
Mr. Apoorv Shukla, AOR,
Ms. Smita Kant, Adv.,
Ms. Ishita Farsaiya, Adv.,
Ms. Prabhleen Kaur, Adv.
Ms. Garima Prashad, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv.
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Adv.
Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv.
Mr. Jishnu M.L., Adv.
Ms. Priyanka Prakash, Adv.
Ms. Beena Prakash, Adv.
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Ms. Aruna Mathur, AOR
Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv.
For M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. KumarAnurag Singh, Addl. Standing Counsel
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Ms. Tulika Mukherjee, Adv.
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Ashish Ranjan, Adv.
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Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR
Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Pravar Veer Misra, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR
Mr. Shreyash Bhardwaj, Adv.
Applicant-in-person
Mr. Romy Chacko, AOR
Mr. Shakthi Chand Jaidwal, Adv.
Mr. Ashwin Romy, Adv.
Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR
Mr. Salim Ansari, Adv.
Mr. Sameer Parekh, AOR
Mr. R. Nedumaran, AOR
Mr. Sharan Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Thakur AOR
Mr. Siddhartha Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Vipasha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Soumya Chakraborty, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR
Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv.
Ms. Shashi Pathak, Adv.
Mr. Sunil Kumar, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Jamnesh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR
Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv.
Mr. Pai Amit, AOR
Mr. P. H. Parekh, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Sameer Parekh, Adv.
Mr. Kshatrashal Raj, Adv.
Ms. Tanya Chaudhry, Adv.
Ms. Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Adv.
Ms. Nitika Pandey, Adv.
For M/s Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Siddhesh Kotwal, Adv.
Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Adv.
Mr. Divyansh Tiwari, Adv.
Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Adv.
Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv.
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
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Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR
Ms. Rachna Gandhi, Adv.
Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Nikhil Parikshith, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Manchanda, Adv.
Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Adv.
For M/S. PLR Chambers And Co., AOR
Mr. Shree Pal Singh, AOR
Mr. Abhimanyu Jhamba, Adv.
Mr. Ashish Jhamb, Adv.
Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR
Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv.
Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee, AOR
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, AOR
Ms. Nidhi Mittal, Adv.
Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR
Mr. Manan Bansal, Adv.
Ms. Shweta Mohta, Adv.
Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR
Mr. Thomas P. Joseph, Sr. Adv.
Mr. V.K. Biju, AOR
Mr. Amlendu Kumar Akhilesh Kumar Jha, Adv.
Mr. Abhay Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shaji George, Adv.
Ms. Rubina Jawed, Adv.
Dr. Lalit Bhasin, Adv.
Ms. Nina Gupta, Adv.
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR
Ms. Christi Jain, AOR
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Apratim Animesh Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Prachi Hasija, Adv.
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Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
Ms. Shrutika Garg, Adv.
Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR
Mr. K.V. Jagdishvaran, Adv.
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR
Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv.
Dr. Rajesh Pandey, Adv.
Ms. Aswathi M.K., AOR
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Ms. Manisha Singh, Adv.
Ms. Nisha Sharma, Adv.
Dr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Vinay Garg, AOR
Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR
Applicant-in-person
Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR
Mr. Romy Chacko, AOR
Mr. Satish Pandey, AOR
Mr. Sameer Parekh, AOR
Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR
Mr. R. Nedumaran, AOR
Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR
Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR
Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR
Mr. Pai Amit, AOR
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
M/S. Parekh & Co., AOR
Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR
M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR
Mr. Samir Ali Khan, AOR
Mr. Shree Pal Singh, AOR
Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, AOR
Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee, AOR
Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR
Mr. V. K. Biju, AOR
Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Ms. Christi Jain, AOR
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Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR
Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR
Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR
Mr. Ramesh Babu M. R., AOR
Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR
Ms. Manisha Ambwani, AOR
Mr. Vishwa Pal Singh, AOR
Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR
Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Anupam Raina, AOR
Mr. S.. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR
Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR
Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR
Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR
Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Mr. Apoorv Shukla, AOR
Ms. Garima Prashad, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. B. V. Balaram Das, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
M/S. Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
The Court made the following conclusions in terms of the signed order :
1) The High Courts are requested to issue practice directions to the Magistrates to record reasons before converting trial of complaints under Section 138 of the Act from summary trial to summons trial.
2) Inquiry shall be conducted on receipt of complaints under Section 138 of the Act to arrive at sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused, when such accused resides beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the court. 8
3) For the conduct of inquiry under Section 202 of the Code, evidence of witnesses on behalf of the complainant shall be permitted to be taken on affidavit. In suitable cases, the Magistrate can restrict the inquiry to examination of documents without insisting for examination of witnesses.
4) We recommend that suitable amendments be made to the Act for provision of one trial against a person for multiple offences under Section 138 of the Act committed within a period of 12 months, notwithstanding the restriction in Section 219 of the Code.
5) The High Courts are requested to issue practice directions to the Trial Courts to treat service of summons in one complaint under Section 138 forming part of a transaction, as deemed service in respect of all the complaints filed before the same court relating to dishonour of cheques issued as part of the said transaction.
6) Judgments of this Court in Adalat Prasad (supra) and Subramanium Sethuraman (supra) have interpreted the law correctly and we reiterate that there is no inherent power of Trial Courts to review or recall the issue of summons.
This does not affect the power of the Trial Court under Section 322 of the Code to revisit the order of issue of process in case it is brought to the court’s notice that it lacks jurisdiction to try the complaint.
7) Section 258 of the Code is not applicable to complaints under Section 138 of the Act and findings to the contrary 9 in Meters and Instruments (supra) do not lay down correct law. To conclusively deal with this aspect, amendment to the Act empowering the Trial Courts to reconsider/recall summons in respect of complaints under Section 138 shall be considered by the Committee constituted by an order of this Court dated 10.03.2021.
8) All other points, which have been raised by the Amici Curiae in their preliminary report and written submissions and not considered herein, shall be the subject matter of deliberation by the aforementioned Committee. Any other issue relating to expeditious disposal of complaints under Section 138 of the Act shall also be considered by the Committee.
List the matter after eight weeks. Further hearing in this matter will be before 3-Judges Bench.
(SANJAY KUMAR-II) (PRADEEP KUMAR) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS BRANCH OFFICER
(Signed Reportable Order is placed on the file)