Vicarious liability for cheque dishonour requires proven corporate responsibility, protecting wrongly impleaded officers through pre-summoning verification.

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....Vicarious liability under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act requires a person's actual role in and responsibility for the company's business when the cheque was dishonoured; a designation asserted in the complaint is insufficient. Uncontroverted Ministry of Corporate Affairs records showing that the impleaded individual was never a director, combined with no pleaded or disclosed role in company affairs, justified quashing the complaint and consequential proceedings against that individual as an abuse of process. For prospective cheque-dishonour complaints against companies, complainants must annex corporate identification details and certified Form DIR-12, unless unavailability despite due diligence is affirmed and the Magistrate records reasons before cognizance.....