President promulgates ordinance on cheque bounce cases

An ordinance that will allow filing of cheque bounce case at the place where the cheque was presented for clearance has been promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee.

The President has promulgated the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, on Monday that will help lakhs of persons battling cheque bounce cases far away from their places, official sources said. It is the 14th ordinance by the Modi government in a little over a year time.

The ordinance will enable filing of cheque bounce cases in the place where the cheque was presented for clearance or payment and not the place of issue.

There are an estimated 18 lakh people facing cheque bounce cases across the country. The Union Cabinet had on June 10 approved the ordinance.

The land ordinance, which was issued for the third time last month, was the 13th executive order of the NDA government since it came to power in May last year. The ordinance was necessitated as a bill to help the litigants in the cheque bounce case was passed by Lok Sabha in earlier this year but it could not go through Rajya Sabha.

The amendment passed by the Lok Sabha provides that cases of bouncing of cheques can be filed only in a court in whose jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee (person who receives the cheque) lies.

If a complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints against that person will be filed in the same court, irrespective of the relevant jurisdiction area.

When the Lok Sabha passed the bill in the last Budget session, the NDA government had faced tough questions from its own members with some BJP MPs wondering if it would be used by corporates to harass the common man.