https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=444642 A prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act requires a legally enforceable debt or liability. Where the cheque was alleged to represent an advocate's fee for litigation work, but no contractual document proved a lawful fee arrangement, the claimed amount was treated as prima facie contrary to the Legal Practitioners' Fees Rules, 1973. The presumption under cheque dishonour law did not cure that defect, because a cheque issued towards an unsupported or impermissible contingent fee claim cannot satisfy the statutory requirement of enforceable liability. On that basis, the complaint was held not maintainable and the criminal proceedings were quashed. en-us Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:19:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=444642 A prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act requires a legally enforceable debt or liability. Where the cheque was alleged to represent an advocate's fee for litigation work, but no contractual document proved a lawful fee arrangement, the claimed amount was treated as prima facie contrary to the Legal Practitioners' Fees Rules, 1973. The presumption under cheque dishonour law did not cure that defect, because a cheque issued towards an unsupported or impermissible contingent fee claim cannot satisfy the statutory requirement of enforceable liability. On that basis, the complaint was held not maintainable and the criminal proceedings were quashed. Case-Laws Indian Laws Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=444642