{"id":364270,"date":"2025-10-17T18:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=364270"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:57:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T10:27:12","slug":"ori-hc-insolvency-no-defence-for-directors-in-cheque-dishonour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/10\/17\/ori-hc-insolvency-no-defence-for-directors-in-cheque-dishonour\/","title":{"rendered":"Insolvency proceedings no shield for Directors in cheque dishonour cases under S. 138 NI Act: Orissa HC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Orissa High Court:<\/span> In the present petition, the petitioner, Managing Director of Zenith Mining (P) Ltd., sought discharge from a cheque bounce case filed by Dewy Developers (P) Ltd., citing insolvency proceedings under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001549806\" target=\"_blank\">7<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002802178\" target=\"_blank\">Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016<\/a> (&#8216;IBC&#8217;) and arguing that only the appointed Resolution Professional (&#8216;RP&#8217;) was entitled to represent the company. A Single Judge Bench of <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Chittaranjan Dash<\/span>, J., while dismissing the petition, held that the mere declaration of a company as insolvent and the appointment of a RP under the IBC did not, by itself, absolved its directors from criminal liability for cheque dishonour under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001544366\" target=\"_blank\">138<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726957\" target=\"_blank\">Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881<\/a> (&#8216;NI Act&#8217;).<\/p>\n<h3>Background:<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The case arose from a complaint filed by Dewy Developers (P) Ltd. under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001544366\" target=\"_blank\">138<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726957\" target=\"_blank\">NI Act<\/a> before the JMFC (LR), Bhubaneswar. The complaint stated that Zenith Mining (P) Ltd., through its Managing Director, persuaded the complainant to extend a friendly loan of Rs 1 crore. The amount was credited to the company&#8217;s account with the assurance of repayment within one year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Upon default, the complainant approached the Managing Director, who issued a cheque dated 25-06-2021 for Rs 1 crore drawn on IndusInd Bank. The cheque was dishonoured twice with the endorsement &#8220;refer to drawer.&#8221; Despite statutory notice, the petitioner failed to make payment, prompting the complainant to initiate criminal proceedings under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001544366\" target=\"_blank\">138<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726957\" target=\"_blank\">NI Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">In response, the petitioner filed an application seeking discharge from the proceedings, citing insolvency proceedings initiated under Section 7 of the IBC. The petitioner argued that the company was declared insolvent by the National Company Law Tribunal&nbsp;(&#8216;NCLT&#8217;), Cuttack on 08-01-2024, and that only the appointed RP was authorised to represent the corporate debtor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">However, the Trial Court rejected the discharge application, holding that criminal prosecution under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001544366\" target=\"_blank\">138<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726957\" target=\"_blank\">NI Act<\/a> could not be terminated against signatories or Directors of a company. Challenging the dismissal order, the petitioner moved the Court by way of a criminal revision petition.<\/p>\n<h3>Analysis and Decision:<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court while examining the position of law relied upon <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Ajay Kumar Radheshyam Goenka v. Tourism Finance Corporation of India Ltd.<\/span>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/XSu1Bzl2\" target=\"_blank\">(2023) 10 SCC 545<\/a>, wherein it was held that the complainant ought to have approached the RP, who alone was competent to represent the accused Company.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court thus concluded that there was no ambiguity in law regarding the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Ajay Kumar Radheshyam Goenka<\/span> (supra), namely, that the matter pending before the RP, pursuant to the NCLT&#8217;s order dated 08-11-2024, would not affect criminal proceedings under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001544366\" target=\"_blank\">138<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726957\" target=\"_blank\">NI Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Consequently, the Court held that such proceedings could not be stalled on the ground of insolvency. Finding the Trial Court&#8217;s order rejecting the discharge plea to be just and proper, the Court confirmed the same and dismissed the petition as devoid of merit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">[<span style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #632423;\">Syed Najam Ahmed v. State of Orissa, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/MQYk9P18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 SCC OnLine Ori 3842<\/a>, decided on 13-10-2025<\/span>]<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For the Petitioner:<\/span> Sidhartha Mishra, Advocate<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For the Opposite Parties:<\/span> A. K. Apat, Addl. P. P., S. S. Padhy, Advocate<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;On the request of the petitioner, the complainant waited and represented the cheque through its banker, but once again it got dishonoured with the same remark &#8211; refer to drawer.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67011,"featured_media":364302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[3029,29922,91060,58955,6121,71863,37146,34025,34538,91061],"class_list":["post-364270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-cheque_bounce","tag-cheque-dishonour","tag-company-insolvent","tag-directors-liability","tag-insolvency","tag-justice-chittaranjan-dash","tag-orissa-high-court","tag-resolution-professional","tag-section-138-negotiable-instruments-act","tag-section-7-insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Insolvency no defence for Directors in 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