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Issues: Whether the complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 disclosed sufficient averments to proceed against a company director under Section 141 of the Act, and whether the High Court was justified in refusing to quash the complaint under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Analysis: The complaint specifically averred that the appellant and another accused were directors of the company and were in charge of and responsible for the conduct of its business at the relevant time. In prosecutions for cheque dishonour against companies, Section 141 creates vicarious liability only when the complaint contains the necessary factual assertion that the person sought to be proceeded against was in charge of and responsible for the company's business when the offence was committed. Mere directorship is not enough, but a complaint is not to be read with undue technicality or by splitting its averments. When read as a whole, the complaint disclosed the essential ingredients for proceeding against the appellant, and the matters raised by him were defence matters to be tested at trial.
Conclusion: The complaint was not liable to be quashed, and the order refusing relief under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was upheld.
Ratio Decidendi: In a prosecution under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, a complaint is sufficient if it specifically avers that the accused director was in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company's business at the relevant time, and such allegations should be assessed on the complaint as a whole rather than by hyper-technical parsing.
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