Punjab and Haryana High Court has declined to set aside the order passed by the trial court whereby interim compensation was granted, though the accused was taking a ground of good defence.
A bench of Justice Grewal has passed the order in the case titled as Anita Devi vs Poonam Singh on 16.10.2019.
The petitioner has challenged the order dated 29.07.2019 passed by the trial Court whereby the petitioner (accused) was directed to deposit 20% of the compensation amount within a period of sixty days in terms of Section 143-A of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner has a good case on merits and, therefore, the trial Court was not justified in directing him to deposit of 20% of the cheque amount.
In the alternative, learned counsel has submitted that the petitioner is in financial difficulty and was legitimately pursuing his legal remedy and, therefore, he may be granted some more time to deposit 20% of the cheque amount.
However the High Court did not find any merit in the arguments and held "The complaint in the instant case was filed on 06.12.2018 and Section 143-A of the NI Act was introduced through amendment, which was brought in force on 01.09.2018. Therefore, I do not find any manifest illegality in the order of the trial Court directing the petitioner to deposit of 20% of the cheque amount. The petition stands dismissed".
Read the Order here:
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