Dishonoured cheque presumption under the Negotiable Instruments Act limits quashing where signatory liability and resignation are disputed.

A dishonoured cheque signed by the accused attracts the statutory presumption under Section 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, and specific averments that the accused were authorised signatories and in charge of the company at the relevant time support prosecution under Section 141. A defence that cheque particulars were filled later, or that the cheques were blank or undated when signed, does not by itself displace that presumption. A plea of resignation before presentation and dishonour raises disputed questions of fact that are ordinarily not resolved in quashing proceedings and must be tested at trial.

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Issues: Whether the criminal complaint and summoning order under the Negotiable Instruments Act were liable to be quashed on the ground that the petitioners had resigned before dishonour of the cheques and that the cheques were allegedly blank or undated when signed.

Analysis: Liability under Sections 138 and 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act attaches to the signatory of a dishonoured cheque, and the complaint contained specific averments that the petitioners were authorised signatories and in charge of the affairs of the company at the relevant time. Once the signatures on the cheques were admitted, the statutory presumption under Section 139 arose in favour of the complainant, and the defence that the cheque details were filled later or that the cheques were blank or undated did not, by itself, displace that presumption. The petitioners' plea that they had resigned before presentation and dishonour raised disputed questions of fact that could not be resolved in quashing proceedings and had to be tested at trial.

Conclusion: The request to quash the complaint and summoning order was rejected, and the proceedings against the petitioners were allowed to continue.

Final Conclusion: The petitioners were not entitled to quashing at the threshold, as the complaint disclosed a triable case and the disputed defences required evidence.

Ratio Decidendi: In proceedings under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a dishonoured cheque signed by the accused attracts the statutory presumption under Section 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, and where the complaint contains specific averments of responsibility under Section 141, disputed defences such as later filling of cheque particulars or prior resignation ordinarily cannot be adjudicated at the quashing stage.

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