Authorised signatory is not a drawer under Section 143-A, so interim compensation cannot be imposed on the signatory alone.

The SC held that for Section 143-A of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the drawer remains the person who issues the cheque, and that meaning is not expanded by the vicarious liability scheme in Section 141. An authorised signatory signs on behalf of the company but does not become the company or the drawer for interim compensation purposes. Because Section 143-A is a penal and coercive provision, it must be applied strictly to its text, and interim compensation cannot be fastened on the signatory when the company has not been proceeded against as drawer.

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Issues: Whether the signatory of a company cheque, without the company being proceeded against as drawer, can be directed to pay interim compensation under Section 143-A of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Analysis: The statutory scheme treats the drawer as the person who issues the cheque, and the liability under Chapter XVII primarily fastens on the drawer. Section 141 creates a limited statutory extension of criminal liability for company offences by way of vicarious liability, but that extension does not rewrite the meaning of drawer under Section 143-A. An authorised signatory signs on behalf of the company and does not become the company itself. Since Section 143-A is a penal and coercive provision, it must be applied strictly according to its text, and the obligation to pay interim compensation cannot be shifted from the drawer-company to its authorised signatory merely because the company is under insolvency or the signatory may otherwise face prosecution under Section 141.

Conclusion: An authorised signatory is not a drawer for the purpose of Section 143-A, and interim compensation cannot be directed against such signatory in the absence of the company being treated as the drawer.

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