Sunita Palta & Ors. Vs. Kit Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Madras High Court)
Non-Executive Directors are, therefore, persons who are not involved in the day-to-day affairs of the running of the company and are not in charge of and not responsible for the conduct of the business of the company.’
Admittedly, the petitioners are neither the Managing Directors nor the Authorized Signatories of the accused company. The accused company and the Managing Director are arrayed as accused No.1 and 2 along with others in the complaint pending before the concerned Metropolitan Magistrate. A perusal of the complaint filed under Section 138 r/w Sections 141/142 of NI Act filed by the complainant shows that except for the general allegation stating that the petitioners were responsible for control and management and day to day affairs of the accused company, no specific role has been attributed to the petitioners. To fasten the criminal liability under The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the above generalised averment without any specific details as to how and in what manner, the petitioners were responsible for the control and management of affairs of the company, is not enough.
In Pepsi Foods v. Special Judicial Magistrate and Ors. reported as (1998) 5 SCC 749, it was held that summoning an accused person cannot be resorted to as a matter of course and the order must
In view of the facts of the case and the aforementioned enunciation of law, I deem it fit to allow the present petition. The impugned order with respect to summoning the present petitioners for the offence under Section 138 of NI Act, is thus quashed.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER / JUDGEMENT
1. The present proceedings are instituted under Section 482 Cr.P.C challenging the order dated 14.02.2017 passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate in CC No.874/2017 whereby the present petitioners were summoned for the offence punishable under Section 138 N.I. Act.
2. The respondent, a private limited company, had filed a complaint through its authorized representative stating that it was engaged in the business of plywood in the name and style of M/s Kit Marketing Private The accused are regular purchasers of goods from the complainant on credit basis and have made regular payment towards sale consideration from time to time in the past. On 01.12.2016, there was an outstanding balance of Rs.36,46,758/- payable by the accused against which following four account payee cheques were issued:
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