Bombay high court allows cheque bounce case against itself

For Vimla Gupta, a senior citizen from Andheri, the irony of bouncing cheques has become a bit confounding.

Made to furnish an amount by the Bombay high court in connection with a cheque bounce case, she was refunded through a cheque by the court’s registrar that bounced.

Caught on the wrong side of the law, the high court, on May 3, has allowed a criminal application against its own registry.

The cheque — No 105820 — drawn on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), was issued by the registrar on November 18 last year.

However, when Gupta, a resident of Lokhandwala, deposited the cheque in her account at Andheri’s Bharat Cooperative Bank on November 20, it was returned unpaid.

A memo issued by the RBI stated that the account on which the cheque had been drawn was not in operation.

It had been issued as refund of a deposit paid by Gupta in connection with a cheque bounce case.

In August 2007, the sessions court had asked Gupta to deposit Rs3 lakh pending appeal in a cheque default case for which she was convicted in March 2007 and was to undergo a sentence of six months.

Gupta filed a criminal revision application (401/2007) in the high court challenging the order. While admitting the application, the court instructed Gupta to deposit Rs1 lakh towards compensation.

The court later set aside the sessions court order, prompting Gupta to apply for withdrawal of the deposit amount.

By an order dated September 2, 2009, the high court allowed her the refund.

Her advocate SH Mishra said the senior citizen was forced to file a criminal application against the state government after the registry did not take any corrective action after several efforts.

“The cheque, issued from an account which was not in operation, has caused serious hardship to my client. The authorities did not rectify the mistake even after she brought it to their notice,” Mishra said.

Admitting the application, a court presided over by justice BR Gavai called for an explanation from the registry on the dishonoured cheque. The registry replied that the RBI had suspended the account as the pay and accounts department had not issued a clearance certificate to the bank. Justice Gavai directed the registry to issue a fresh cheque.

Gupta, who is facing charges of cheque default in some other cases, says she desperately needs the refund amount. “Court proceedings over the years have driven my family towards bankruptcy,” she said.

Mishra said her client has already moved another application for initiation of criminal proceedings against the registrar, the under secretary (law and judiciary department, state of Maharashtra), and the chief secretary under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 2002, at the 23rd Esplanade court. The hearing is slated for June 14.