https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=761209 Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act fastens criminal liability only on the drawer and signatory of the cheque. Where the cheque was signed by a third person and the petitioners were non-signatories, and there was no clear averment of authority to sign on their behalf, the foundational requirement for prosecution was not met. The Court noted that a proprietorship has no separate legal entity and proceedings may lie against the sole proprietor, but that principle does not extend criminal liability to a non-signatory without legally sufficient pleadings. The summoning orders were therefore set aside. en-us Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 07 Nov 2024 08:47:57 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=761209 Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act fastens criminal liability only on the drawer and signatory of the cheque. Where the cheque was signed by a third person and the petitioners were non-signatories, and there was no clear averment of authority to sign on their behalf, the foundational requirement for prosecution was not met. The Court noted that a proprietorship has no separate legal entity and proceedings may lie against the sole proprietor, but that principle does not extend criminal liability to a non-signatory without legally sufficient pleadings. The summoning orders were therefore set aside. Case-Laws Indian Laws Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=761209