ROHIT MOTORS Vs. PUNJAB TRACTORS LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Trade and Commerce are of pivotal importance for over all development of a country. These while making contributions in shape of direct and indirect taxes to the State exchequer provide employment to a large number of people. It has been thus, all along endeavor of the law makers to enact laws that guarantee freedom of trade and commerce, facilitate and promote trade and commerce and impart credibility to the commercial transactions and respectability to the Negotiable Instruments. It needs no emphasis, that with new strides in trade and commerce, it is impracticable to rely on cash transactions alone. The parties to commercial transactions invariably rely on Negotiable Instruments like cheques to clinch commercial deals. It is thus of utmost importance that cheques are honoured as to discredit cheques as medium of commercial transactions is bound to have a negative spill over for over all health of economy. It is for the said reason that failure to adhere to the commitments by drawer of a cheque has been viewed seriously and frowned upon by the social planners. Before a special law, dealing with dishonor of cheques, was enacted, Section 420 RPC used to be pressed into service to deal with the problem. It was soon realized that, "deception", and "fraudulent or dishonest inducement" being necessary components of the offence of cheating it may not be possible for drawee or holder in due course of a bounced cheque to prove existence of such basic components of the offence of cheating. Cases are conceivable where the drawer of cheque at the time of issuing cheque had no intention to deceive a drawee and thus would go, of the hook, once the drawer failed to prove deception. In the circumstances a law was required to be enacted which would make return of cheque unpaid, an offence even when no deception was proved against the drawer of the cheque. The legislative effort in this regard crystallized in shape of Negotiable Instruments Act. The law relating to Negotiable Instruments is law of commercial world and is primarily concerned with sanctity to the instruments of the credit, convertible into money and easily passable from one person or other.

(2.) Should societal concern for respectability of negotiable instruments like cheques, be stretched to an extent that permit the drawer or holder in due course to make a departure from settled principles governing jurisdiction of Criminal courts, and choose jurisdiction of his choice, is the question stared at the court in the present bunch of petitions under Section 561-A Code of Criminal Procedure;

(3.) The facts of petitions 102/2009, 103/2009 and 106/2009 to 113/2009 under Section 561A Code of Criminal Procedure, if not similar, the contours of controversy in all the ten petitions are identical and all the ten petitions may very well be taken-up together. This order thus shall govern the fate of all the above captioned petitions.