Several members wanted the government to make the penal provisions even more stringent and make bouncing of cheque a non-bailable offence by keeping provision for imprisonment of four years.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2018 by a voice vote on Thursday thereby making provisions against bouncing of cheques more stringent. Most parties, including Congress, supported the Bill saying it will help the honest people, especially those who are in business.
The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on July 23.
The amended Act provides for allowing a court trying an offence related to cheque bouncing to direct the drawer pay interim compensation to the complainant (payee).
The amendment specifies that if a drawer convicted in a cheque bouncing case files an appeal, the appellate court may direct him to deposit a minimum of 20 per cent of the fine or compensation awarded by the trial court during conviction. This amount will be in addition to any interim compensation paid by the drawer during the earlier trial proceedings.
In case, the drawer gets acquitted (during trial or by the appellate court), the court will direct the complainant to return the interim compensation (or deposit in case of an appeal case), along with an interest. This amount will be repaid within 60 days of the court's order.
Several members wanted the government to make the penal provisions even more stringent and make bouncing of cheque a non-bailable offence by keeping provision for imprisonment of four years. Some wanted to constitute special courts to specifically deal with such cases.
Many like Manish Gupta and K Somaprasad wondered if the amended law would be of any help in redressing more than 30 lakh cases that are pending in the courts.
“Nobody has calculated that when the decisions of these courts or convictions are handed down, it would be appealed against in the higher courts,” said Gupta.
“There are eight vacancies in the Supreme Court and 411 vacancies in High Courts. Apart from this, more than 4,000 vacancies are existing in District and Subordinate Courts all over India,” said Somaprasad asking the government how it plans to resolve this issue.
Amended Act
The amended Act specifies that if a drawer convicted in a cheque bouncing case files an appeal, the appellate court may direct him to deposit a minimum of 20 per cent of the fine or compensation awarded by the trial court during conviction.
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 "Cheque Bounce")
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