Supreme Court is worried about bounced cheque cases clogging courts

Supreme Court is worried about bounced cheque cases clogging courts

The Apex Court wants the government to specify if it intends to set up more courts to deal with the issue

The Supreme Court (SC) is worried about the growing number of cases about bounced cheques that are clogging the courts across the country.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde on 25 February 2021 asked the central government regarding how they intend to deal with the situation.

"Tell us whether the Union of India is willing to create additional courts for Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act cases (commonly referred to as cheque bounce cases) using power under Article 247?" the bench also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhatt asked.

Article 247 of the Constitution of India allows parliament to create additional courts for better administration of laws.

Cheque bounces cases account for as much as 15 per cent of the total pendency of criminal cases in Indian courts. As of 1 January 2020, over 2.31 crore criminal cases are pending in various courts across the country, of which cheque bounce cases accounted for 35.16 lakh of the total criminal case pendency.

The Apex Court's observation regarding setting up additional courts came up during the hearing on a suo moto case that came up in March 2020 under which the SC is considering guidelines to be issued for expeditious disposal of cheque bounce cases.

Bouncing a cheque is punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The Top Court had earlier appointed senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate K Parameshwar amici curiae. In their report, they had highlighted the urgent need to issue directions including setting up exclusive courts to deal with the grim situation.

One of the reasons for the pendency of bounced cheque cases was the inability to deliver the court summons due to a change of address. The amici curiae in their report have suggested initiating the process of sending summons electronically.

"Nowadays everything is linked with Aadhaar. There is no reason why electronic service of summons should not be done," Luthra said in an additional report.

Luthra also submitted the need for a summary trial of cheque bounce cases in his report along with compulsory mediation at the pre-trial stage and attachment of property of the accused to the extent of the amount presented in the cheque.

"Unless the idea of exclusive courts is backed by a comprehensive plan from the Union to fund setting up of exclusive courts and an action plan is worked out to appoint Magistrates (for trial) and judges (for hearing appeals) for such courts, diverting existing resources would burden the system," the amici curiae report suggested.

The Apex Court appeared keen to consider establishing special courts and asked Luthra whether Article 247 was a power coupled with duty where Union was required to have a judicial impact assessment while enacting a law.

Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee sought time to take instructions from the central government in this regard saying setting up of exclusive courts would require some time.

"Whether there are additional courts or not, we will have to streamline the procedure," the bench observed.

The matter will come up for further consideration on the 3 March, which has been fixed as the next date of hearing. The Centre is expected to give its inputs by then.