Clerical error in Section 138 complaint may be corrected when the cheque transaction is unchanged and no prejudice is shown.

A bona fide clerical or typographical error in a Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act complaint may be corrected where the cheque details and underlying transaction remain unchanged, the amendment does not alter the foundation of the prosecution, and no real prejudice is shown to the defence. The High Court treated the wrong year in the complaint and connected documents as an unintentional drafting mistake, noted that procedural corrections are permissible where justice so requires, and found that the request was made before completion of prosecution evidence. The amendment was therefore permitted in favour of the complainant.

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Issues: Whether a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 could be amended to correct the year mentioned on the cheque and related documents.

Analysis: The complaint related to a cheque dishonour prosecution in which the cheque number, date and amount were not in dispute, but the year had been wrongly reflected as 2010 instead of 2012 in the complaint and connected documents. The Court treated the error as a clerical or typographical mistake, noting that pleadings are often prepared by copying earlier drafts and that an unintentional mistake may travel through multiple documents. It held that criminal procedure contains enabling provisions showing that procedural corrections are permissible where justice so requires, and that proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act are quasi-criminal and designed to secure the cheque amount through a summary process rather than to defeat a claim on a technical lapse. The Court further found that the application was moved before completion of the prosecution evidence and that no real prejudice to the defence was shown.

Conclusion: The complaint could be amended, and the request for correction of the year was allowed in favour of the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: A bona fide clerical or typographical error in a Section 138 complaint may be corrected where the core transaction is unchanged, no substantive prejudice is caused, and the amendment serves the ends of justice rather than altering the foundation of the case.

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