High Court · 2025

Mr. Arvind Vashist ha, Senior Advocat e, assist ed by Mr. Rachit Manglik and Mr. Abhishek Ant hwal, Advocat e, holding brief of Mr. Vivek Pat hak, Advocat e for t he applicant . Mr. Rakesh Kum ar Joshi, Brief Holder for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand. Mr. Jit endra Chaudhary, Advocat e for respondent no.2. filed by t he applicant

2. Present crim inal m isc. applicat ion has been quashing t he sum m oning order dat ed 09.11.2016 as well as ent ire proceedings of Com plaint Case No.5680 of 2016 pending in t he Court of learned Second Addit ional Civil Judge ( Senior Division) / Judicial Magist rat e Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar. Learned Senior Counsel

3. t he applicant subm it s t hat t he applicant was only one of t he Direct ors of t he Com pany and had signed t he cheque on behalf of com pany, t herefore, at t he m ost , she could be fast ened wit h vicarious liabilit y for any offence; t hat since sum m on was not issued t o t he com pany and not ice was issued t o one of t he Direct ors of t he Com pany ( applicant herein) , t herefore, t he sum m oning order is bad in t he eyes of law. I n order t o but t ress his argum ent , t he learned Senior Advocat e pet it ioner placed t he rendered by Hon’ble Apex j udgm ent Court in t he case of “ Bij oy Kum ar Moni Vs. Paresh Manna & anot her, report ed in reliance upon 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3833, wherein t he Court has held t hat vicarious liabilit y can t he direct ors, only be affixed against t he et c. aut horised com pany aft er t he com pany is held liable t he com m ission of offence under Sect ion 138. Paragraph no.50 of t he said j udgm ent is ext ract ed below: signat ories “ 5 0 . A cat ena of decisions of t his Court have set t led t he posit ion of law t hat in case of a cheque issued on behalf of a com pany by it s aut hor ised signat ory, prosecut ion cannot proceed against t he such aut horised signat ory or ot her post - holders of t he com pany as described under Sect ion 141 of t he NI Act , unless t he com pany who is t he drawer of t he cheque is arraigned as an accused in t he com plaint case filed before t he m agist rat e. Furt her, vicar ious liabilit y can only be affixed against t he direct ors, aut horised signat or ies, et c. of t he com pany aft er t he com pany is held liable for t he com m ission of offence under Sect ion 138.” t he t hough cont ra, learned

4. Per counsel appearing for respondent no.2 subm it s com plaint , t hat , t he respondent no.2 have arrayed com pany as accused no.1; but , reason best known t o t he concerned Magist rat e, t he he has chosen not com pany and, as such, t here is no defect is in his com plaint . t o sum m on

5. Aft er perusing t he j udgm ent passed by Hon’ble Apex Court , it is apparent ly t aking cognizance against t he applicant cannot not be sum m oned. t he com pany, t hat , wit hout t he fact s 6. Considering circum st ances of t he case and also considering t he fact t hat since sum m on was not issued against t he com pany i.e. principal and was issued only against t he t he applicant , who was only one of Direct ors of t he com pany, t his Court has no hesit at ion in quashing t he sum m oning order dat ed 09.11.2016 passed by learned Second Addit ional Civil Judge Division) / Judicial Magist rat e ( Senior Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Nagar.

7. Accordingly, t he sum m oning order dat ed 09.11.2016 passed by learned Second Addit ional Civil Judge ( Senior Division) / Judicial Magist rat e Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Magist rat e Com plaint Case No.5680 of 2016, hereby quashed. The m at t er is rem it t ed back t o learned Second Addit ional Civil Division) / Judicial Judge Magist rat e Rudrapur, Dist rict Udham Singh Magist rat e for decision afresh, as per law. However, part ies shall be at libert y t o raise all legal issues, which are available t o t hem . ( Senior The

8. st ands disposed of. crim inal m isc. applicat ion ( A l o k M a h r a , J.)

09.04.2025 Arpan ARPAN JAISWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c0485365 445e3a20dddb7393398f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454 C5109CB987446351E4DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL