Madras High Court has held that gurantor cannot be made an accused in cheque bounce case where cheque was issued by principal debtor.
A bench of Justice Venkatesh has passed the order in the case titled as S.P.Velayutham vs R.Tamilrasu on 16.08.2019.
High Court noted the factual position as "A reading of the complaint shows that the 1 st petitioner is the drawer of the cheque and the 2 nd petitioner has been made as an accused only on the ground that he stood as the guarantor for the amount due and payable by the 1 st petitioner to the respondent".
The learned counsel for the respondent/complainant submitted that sufficient allegations have been made in the complaint and therefore both the petitioners must be made to face the trial before the Court below and this Court should not interfere with the proceedings in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of Cr.P.C.
High Court however observed "Insofar as the 2 nd petitioner is concerned, he ought not to have been made as an accused, since admittedly he was not the drawer of the cheque. He has been made as an accused only on the ground that he stood as a guarantor. This is not the ground on which, the 2 nd petitioner can be made as an accused and the Court below while taking cognizance against the 2 nd petitioner, completely failed to take note of this fundamental principle".
High Court then quashed the case against guarantor as "Therefore, the proceedings will have to be interfered insofar as the 2 nd petitioner is concerned. In the result, the proceedings in C.C.No.5480 of 2015, on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Tambaram, is quashed insofar as the 2 nd petitioner is concerned".
Read the Order here:
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