TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (9) TMI 47
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....nt-complainant filed a private complaint in P.C. No.800/2014 on the file of Civil Judge and JMFC, Hukkeri against the petitioners for the offence punishable under Section 138 of N.I. Act. In the said complaint, it is stated that the respondent-Shri. Adinath Multipurpose Souharda Sahakari Limited had opened fixed deposit Accounts with the Belagavi Liberal Credit Souharda Cooperative Limited, Belagavi (for short 'the society') on 15.02.2012 for a period of one year for a sum of Rs. 5.00 lakhs each i.e., total of Rs. 10.00 lakhs. Upon maturity of the said fixed deposit the said society was liable to the pay to the respondent-complainant matured amount of Rs. 17,10,000/-. 3. Petitioner No.1 on behalf of said society issued a cheque bea....
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....s the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and hence, in the instant case, the society (company) has not been served with the demand notice and not been made as party for the proceedings. On that point, he placed reliance on the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Aneeta Hada V/s. Godfather Travels and Tours Private Limited, reported in (2012)5 SCC 661. 7. It is further contended that since society has not been arrayed as accused in the proceedings, solely on account of petitioners were the employees of the cooperative society is not maintainable and is liable to be quashed. He also placed reliance on the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Himanshu V/s. B. Shivamurthy and another reported in (2019) 3 SCC....
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....Para Nos.53, 56 and 59 reads thus: "53. It is to be borne in mind that Section 141 of the Act is concerned with the offences by the company. It makes the other persons vicariously liable for commission of an offence on the part of the company. As has been stated by us earlier, the vicarious liability gets attracted when the condition precedent laid down in Section 141 of the Act stands satisfied. There can be no dispute that as the liability is penal in nature, a strict construction of the provision would be necessitous and, in a way, the warrant. 56. We have referred to the aforesaid passages only to highlight that there has to be strict observance of the provisions regard being had to the legislative intendment because it deals with p....
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....gly, is hereby overruled. The decision in Anil Hada is overruled with the qualifier as stated in para 51. The decision in Modi Distillery [U.P. Pollution Control Board v. Modi Distillery, (1987) 3 SCC 684] has to be treated to be restricted to its own facts as has been explained by us hereinabove." 10. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the said decision has held that for maintaining the prosecution under Section 141 of N.I. Act arraying of a company as the accused is imperative. The Hon'ble Apex Court in Himanshu (supra) has held as under : "15. In the present case, the record before the Court indicates that the cheque was drawn by the appellant for Lakshmi Cement and Ceramics Industries Ltd., as its Director. A notice of demand was serv....