Section 138 liability requires personal cheque issuance and enforceable debt; proceedings against a secretary-signatory were quashed.

Section 138 NI Act liability requires a cheque drawn by the accused on an account maintained by that person for discharge of a legally enforceable debt or liability. The cheque here was issued from the educational institution's account and signed by the petitioner only in her capacity as Correspondent/Secretary, with no pleaded personal debt or personal transaction established against her. As the complaint was laid against her individually, and not against the institution whose account was used, the ingredients of personal liability were not made out. The Section 138 proceedings were therefore held unsustainable and quashed under Section 482 CrPC.

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Issues: Whether proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act could be sustained against a person who had not issued the cheque in her personal capacity but had signed it only as Correspondent/Secretary of an educational institution, and whether such complaint was liable to be quashed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Analysis: Liability under Section 138 arises when a cheque is drawn by a person on an account maintained by that person for discharge of a debt or other liability. The cheque in question was not drawn on the petitioner's personal account and there was no pleaded personal debt owed by the petitioner to the complainant. The cheque was issued in her capacity as Correspondent/Secretary of the college, while the complaint was laid only against her personally and not against the institution whose account was used. The transaction between the complainant and the petitioner personally was also not established, and the facts did not support a legally enforceable personal liability.

Conclusion: The proceedings against the petitioner were unsustainable and were quashed.

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