Specific averments required for director liability under cheque dishonour complaints; omnibus allegations are insufficient and process cannot stand.

Vicarious liability of company directors under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act cannot be presumed merely from their status as directors. A complaint must specifically aver, with respect to each accused, that they were in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company's business at the relevant time, and must disclose the individual role alleged. Omnibus allegations against all directors are insufficient, especially where they are not signatories to the cheques. On the complaint as filed, the essential requirements for issuance of process were not made out, and the process issued against the applicants was quashed with consequential proceedings.

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Issues: Whether the process issued against the directors could be sustained in the absence of specific averments showing how each of them was in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company's business under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Analysis: Liability under Section 141 is vicarious and cannot be fastened merely because a person is described as a director. A complaint must contain clear and specific averments that, at the relevant time, each accused was in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the business of the company. The complaint contained only omnibus statements against all the directors and did not disclose their individual role or the manner in which they were responsible for the transaction. The applicants were also not the signatories to the cheques. On the basis of the complaint as filed, the essential requirements for issuing process against them were not made out.

Conclusion: The order issuing process against the applicants was unsustainable and was quashed, along with the consequential proceedings, as against the applicants.

Ratio Decidendi: A complaint seeking to prosecute company directors for dishonour of cheque must specifically aver the role of each accused in the conduct of the company's business at the relevant time; absent such pleadings, vicarious criminal liability under Section 141 cannot be imposed.

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