{"id":561,"date":"2021-08-03T10:48:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T05:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/?p=561"},"modified":"2026-10-17T22:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:08:45","slug":"cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheque Bounce Case Latest SC Guidelines 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supreme Court of India has passed new guidelines on Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 2 OF 2020 \u2013 taken up in March 2020 by a Bench of three Judges (Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat) and decided on 16 April 2021 by a five-Judge Constitution Bench (Chief Justice Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai, A.S. Bopanna and S. Ravindra Bhat). All these guidelines are thoroughly explained one by one in this article. But for that first we need to look at all the issues which were raised before the Hon\u2019ble&nbsp;&nbsp; Supreme Court of India regarding Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881. The following 7 major issues were raised:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"a\"><li>Service of summons<\/li><li>Statutory amendment to Section 219 of the Code<\/li><li>Summary trials<\/li><li>Attachment of bank accounts<\/li><li>Applicability of Section 202 of the Code<\/li><li>Mediation<\/li><li>Inherent jurisdiction of the Magistrate<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this case, Supreme Court of India asked for recommendations from various High Courts and Directors General of Police, out of which 14 High Courts and 7 D.G.P.(s) already forwarded their views to the Supreme Court of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understand these guidelines in detail by watching this video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"138 NI Act Latest Supreme Court Guidelines for speedy disposal | Cheque Bounce Case New Update |\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Uf-n0r_QxHA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main purposes behind these guidelines were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>Speedy and expeditious trail of cases under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881.<\/li><li>Reduce the burden of around 35 Lakh pending cases.<\/li><li>To Consolidate Several Offence related to Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881 in one trail.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can read the complete Supreme Court of India Judgement here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/138-to-expetide-process.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Embed of 138-to-expetide-process..\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-0f3351dd-d8a8-487e-9fdf-d27ee21b0cf8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/138-to-expetide-process.pdf\">138-to-expetide-process<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/138-to-expetide-process.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-0f3351dd-d8a8-487e-9fdf-d27ee21b0cf8\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"clf-expanded\" hidden><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 2021 Constitution Bench judgment and what has happened since<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The matter \u2013 <em>In Re: Expeditious Trial of Cases under Section 138 of the NI Act, 1881<\/em>, Suo Motu W.P. (Crl.) No. 2 of 2020 \u2013 began before a three-judge Bench in March 2020 and was decided on 16 April 2021 by a five-judge Constitution Bench (Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai, A.S. Bopanna and S. Ravindra Bhat). More than 35 lakh cheque-bounce cases were then pending, about 15 per cent of all criminal cases. The directions, in summary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Summary trial is the rule (Section 143).<\/strong> Magistrates must record reasons before converting a summary trial into a summons trial; High Courts were asked to issue practice directions to this effect.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 202 inquiry for out-of-jurisdiction accused.<\/strong> Where the accused lives outside the court&#8217;s territorial jurisdiction, the Magistrate must hold the inquiry before issuing process, but may do so on the complainant&#8217;s affidavit and documents, without oral evidence.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Service of summons.<\/strong> Summons may be served by e-mail and other electronic means; service in one complaint is deemed service in all complaints arising from the same transaction between the same parties.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Joint trial (Section 219 CrPC).<\/strong> The Court recommended an amendment so that more than three complaints arising from one transaction within twelve months can be tried together; pending that, courts should club such cases where possible.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 258 CrPC does not apply<\/strong> to complaint cases, so a Magistrate cannot &#8220;stop proceedings&#8221; and discharge the accused for want of a prima facie case; the contrary view in <em>Meters and Instruments v. Kanchan Mehta<\/em> (2017) was overruled on this point, and an amendment to allow recall of summons was recommended.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Mediation and compounding.<\/strong> Courts were reminded of the compounding scheme in <em>Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Babalal H.<\/em> (2010) \u2013 graded costs for late settlement \u2013 and asked to encourage mediation at the first hearing.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Attachment of bank accounts<\/strong> under the Code was examined, and the Court declined to issue a general direction, leaving it to the trial court&#8217;s powers in individual cases.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>A committee<\/strong> headed by Justice R.C. Chavan (retired) was constituted to suggest further measures; on its recommendation the Court in May 2022 ordered a pilot of special courts presided over by retired judicial officers in the five States with the heaviest pendency \u2013 Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan \u2013 from 1 September 2022, later extended.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other rules every complainant and accused should know<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Notice within 30 days of the return memo, 15 days to pay, complaint within one month thereafter (Sections 138 and 142); jurisdiction lies with the court where the payee&#8217;s bank branch is situated (Section 142(2), inserted in 2015).<\/li>\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-in-cheque-bounce-cases\/\">Interim compensation<\/a> of up to 20 per cent at trial (Section 143A) and a deposit of at least 20 per cent as a condition of appeal (Section 148), both added in 2018 and applied prospectively (<em>G.J. Raja v. Tejraj Surana<\/em>, 2019) and treated as the norm on appeal (<em>Surinder Singh Deswal v. Virender Gandhi<\/em>, 2019).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Presumptions under Sections 118 and 139 \u2013 the cheque is presumed to have been issued for a legally enforceable debt, and the accused must rebut it on a preponderance of probabilities (<em>Rangappa v. Sri Mohan<\/em>, 2010; <em>Basalingappa v. Mudibasappa<\/em>, 2019).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Directors and partners are liable only if the complaint pleads that they were in charge of and responsible for the company&#8217;s business (Section 141; <em>S.M.S. Pharmaceuticals v. Neeta Bhalla<\/em>, 2005), and a company undergoing insolvency moratorium does not shield its directors from Section 138 (<em>P. Mohanraj v. Shah Brothers Ispat<\/em>, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Punishment: imprisonment up to two years, or fine up to twice the cheque amount, or both; courts increasingly order compensation under Section 357 CrPC (Section 395 BNSS) in place of imprisonment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Related reading: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case\/\">cheque bounce cases under Section 138 \u2013 complete guide<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/section-93-of-negotiable-instruments-act-1881\/\">notice of dishonour under Section 93<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/court-fee-and-jurisdiction-calculator-online\/\">court-fee and jurisdiction calculator<\/a> for a parallel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/summary-suit-order-xxxvii-of-cpc\/\">summary suit<\/a> under Order XXXVII CPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-q-1\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What did the Supreme Court decide in the 2021 suo motu cheque-bounce case?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">On 16 April 2021 a Constitution Bench directed that Section 138 cases be tried summarily unless reasons are recorded, allowed the Section 202 inquiry to be conducted on affidavits, permitted electronic service of summons, held that Section 258 CrPC does not apply to complaint cases, encouraged mediation and recommended amendments for joint trials and recall of summons. A committee was set up and special courts were later piloted in five States.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-q-2\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Can a Magistrate discharge an accused in a cheque-bounce case for lack of evidence?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Not under Section 258 CrPC \u2013 the Constitution Bench held that provision does not apply to complaint cases. The accused must either be acquitted after trial or seek quashing before the High Court under Section 528 BNSS (formerly 482 CrPC).<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-q-3\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Are the 2021 guidelines still in force after the BNSS?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes. They concern the NI Act and the court&#8217;s procedure, and the corresponding BNSS provisions (Sections 225 for the Section 202 inquiry, 242\u2013243 for joinder, 283 for summary trial) carry the same scheme.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"clf-related\" style=\"margin:28px 0 8px;padding:16px 20px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:6px;background:#fafafa\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700\">Related reading<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/habeas-corpus-lawyer\/\">Habeas Corpus, What It Is And How To Use It : Lawyer&#8217;s Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/decoding-the-hierarchy-of-judges-in-india-complete-analysis\/\">Understanding the Hierarchy of Judges in India: Complete Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India has passed new guidelines on Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 2 OF 2020 \u2013 taken up in March 2020 by a Bench of three Judges (Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat) and decided on 16 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[302,26,1549],"class_list":["post-561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-advocate-for-138-case","tag-cheque-bounce-in-delhi","tag-lawyers-delhi"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cheque Bounce Case Latest SC Guidelines 2021 - Century Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Supreme Court guidelines on cheque bounce cases under Section 138 NI Act: summary trials, interim compensation, mediation and faster disposal.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cheque Bounce Case Latest SC Guidelines 2021 - Century Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Supreme Court guidelines on cheque bounce cases under Section 138 NI Act: summary trials, interim compensation, mediation and faster disposal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Century Law Firm Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Century-Law-Firm-103762818279916\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-03T05:18:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-17T17:08:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/best-law-firm-in-Delhi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@centurylawind\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@centurylawind\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/15c0285d46c9a3250f689fe9da251747\"},\"headline\":\"Cheque Bounce Case Latest SC Guidelines 2021\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-03T05:18:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-17T17:08:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1101,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"advocate for 138 case\",\"Cheque Bounce in Delhi\",\"Lawyers Delhi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Latest News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"FAQPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.centurylawfirm.in\\\/blog\\\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cheque Bounce Case Latest SC Guidelines 2021 - 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A committee was set up and special courts were later piloted in five States.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/#faq-q-2","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/#faq-q-2","name":"Can a Magistrate discharge an accused in a cheque-bounce case for lack of evidence?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Not under Section 258 CrPC \u2013 the Constitution Bench held that provision does not apply to complaint cases. The accused must either be acquitted after trial or seek quashing before the High Court under Section 528 BNSS (formerly 482 CrPC).","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/#faq-q-3","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/cheque-bounce-case-latest-sc-guidelines-2021\/#faq-q-3","name":"Are the 2021 guidelines still in force after the BNSS?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. They concern the NI Act and the court's procedure, and the corresponding BNSS provisions (Sections 225 for the Section 202 inquiry, 242\u2013243 for joinder, 283 for summary trial) carry the same scheme.","inLanguage":"en"},"inLanguage":"en"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.centurylawfirm.in\/blog\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Supreme Court of India has passed new guidelines on Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 2 OF 2020 \u2013 taken up in March 2020 by a Bench of three Judges (Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. 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