Deadline to Deposit 20% Under Sections 143A and 148 NI Act Can Be Extended: Rajasthan High Court

The petitioners, a firm and its partner, challenged an order refusing more time to deposit 20% under Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, as amended in 2018 (para 1). Their counsel said an order of 8 May 2019 required the deposit within two months, but the petitioner met with an accident; on 17 September 2019 the court refused his draft of Rs 2,80,000, asking for cash, then refused the cash as the period had expired, saying only the appellate court could extend time (para 2). On 24 September 2019 the Additional Sessions Judge No. 2, Alwar, rejected his appeal because the 90 days (60 plus 30) had expired on 8 August 2019 (para 2).

Sections 143A and 148 were inserted by the 2018 amendment (para 5). They let the trial court and the appellate court direct payment to the complainant of up to 20% of the cheque value; the trial court may do so at the plea stage or upon framing of charge, with 60 days to pay, extendable by 30 (paras 5-6). The Court drew on Salem Advocate Bar Association: ‘shall’ is not conclusive, and procedural rules are handmaids of justice (para 7); Kailash v. Nanhku: the Order VIII Rule 1 time schedule specifies no penal consequence for non-compliance, is directory and leaves the power to extend time intact (para 8); and Bihar Rajya Bhumi Vikas Bank Samiti: where the legislature intends a consequence for a missed deadline, it says so expressly (para 9). It also noted Mohd. Aslam, a Rent Control Act case, that negative words are presumed mandatory (para 10). The Court held that Sections 143A and 148 entail no consequence and do not state that non-compliance would have a particular result. The deposit period can therefore always be extended in the facts of each case, since the amendment aims at immediate relief to the aggrieved party (para 11).