Cheque Dishonour Presumption and disputed defences were insufficient to quash process at the threshold.

A complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act may proceed where a cheque was issued towards another legally enforceable liability, because Sections 138 and 139 refer to "any cheque" and raise a presumption that it was issued for discharge of a debt or other liability. At the quashing stage, absence of privity, reliance on a settlement, and the plea of a without prejudice arrangement or gift raised disputed factual issues that could not be finally resolved. Where the complaint and supporting documents disclosed a prima facie case and the statutory presumption remained unrebutted, process could not be quashed against the accused.

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Issues: Whether a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 could be quashed at the threshold on the grounds that the petitioner was not a party to the underlying settlement, the cheque was issued towards the liability of another person, and the defence that it was issued as part of a without prejudice arrangement or as a gift.

Analysis: Section 138 uses the expressions "any cheque" and "any debt or other liability", and Section 139 creates a presumption that the cheque was issued for discharge of a debt or other liability. The legal liability need not be confined to the drawer's own personal debt; a cheque drawn towards another legally enforceable liability can attract penal consequences if the statutory ingredients are otherwise satisfied. The petitioner's reliance on absence of privity, the terms of the family settlement, and the alleged without prejudice arrangement raised disputed factual questions and defence contentions. At the stage of quashing under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, such matters could not be finally examined, particularly when the complaint and accompanying documents disclosed a prima facie case and the presumptions under the Act remained unrebutted.

Conclusion: The challenge to the issuance of process failed. The complaint under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was not liable to be quashed against the petitioner.

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