RAJ PAL KAPIL Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A common question of law is involved in the present petitions, hence taken up together, invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India, praying to quash and set-aside the order dated 4.9.2013 summoning the present petitioner as an accused for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable of Instruments Act, in short "the Act" and subsequent orders and ultimately dismissing the complaint for want of impleading the Company as an accused.

(2.) The petitioner herein is alleged to be working for "Strain Brain" INNS of Court Head Office, 539, PKT Sector 17, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075. It is alleged that on the persuasion of associates concerned of the accused, namely, Kewal Krishan, Om Parkash and Dev Raj as well as on the assurance of the petitioner to provide job in abroad, he received Rs. .3,00,000/- from the private respondents aforesaid on or before October/ November, 2011 and also got the Pass-port of the private respondents on 'Tatkal' basis. However, when nothing was done, the accused was asked for the refund of the money, as advance taken from each of the private respondents. Thus in order to discharge the legal debt, the petitioner issued three cheques of the said amount to each of them from his account maintained by his banker 'Kotak Mahindra', Sector-5, Dwarka, New Delhi under his signatures, which bounced back because "insufficient funds", as such, on having received the said communication, statutory notice was issued calling upon the petitioner to make the payment of the cheque amount within a specified period to which he failed and the complaints were filed against him before the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Barsar.

(3.) After recording the preliminary evidence, the accused-petitioner was summoned as an accused, which is sought to be set-aside and the complaints dismissed for want of impleading the Company as an accused.