Disputed partnership and business responsibility will not justify quashing a cheque dishonour complaint at the threshold.

Interference under Section 482 CrPC was not warranted in a Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act complaint where the accused's status as a partner and responsibility for the firm's business were disputed. Contemporaneous material, including a letter linking the accused to the firm and the transaction, was sufficient to raise triable issues, while his denial of partnership and of the signatures could not be conclusively decided before evidence. The quashing challenge to the summoning order and notice order therefore failed, and the matter was required to proceed to trial.

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Issues: Whether the summoning order and the order framing notice against the petitioner in a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 warranted interference under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on the ground that the petitioner was not a partner and was not responsible for the affairs of the firm.

Analysis: The material on record included a letter dated 09.06.2011 linking the petitioner with the firm and indicating his role in the transaction, while the defence that he was not a partner or that the signatures were not his raised questions requiring evidence. The Court held that the issue whether the petitioner was a partner or was responsible for the day-to-day conduct of the business could not be conclusively determined at the pre-trial stage. The controversy involved disputed questions of fact, and the petitioner's denial did not, by itself, displace the allegations under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Conclusion: Interference under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was declined and the challenge to the summoning order and notice order failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the accused's connection with the firm and responsibility for its business turns on disputed questions of fact supported by some contemporaneous material, the High Court will not quash summoning or notice orders in proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 at the threshold and the matter must proceed to trial.

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