Provision for interim compensation in cheque dishonour case to be prospective, says SC

The Supreme Court has held that a provision of the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act, which came into effect in September 2018 and provides for interim compensation to complainant in cheque dishonour case, will take effect prospectively. The apex court delivered the judgement while dealing with a question whether section 143-A of the Act can be invoked retrospectively.

The section took effect from September 1, 2018 and deals with power of courts to order the drawer of the cheque to pay interim compensation to the complainant in cheque dishonour cases. "In our view, the applicability of section 143-A of the Act must, therefore, be held to be prospective in nature and confined to cases where offences were committed after the introduction of section 143-A, in order to force an accused to pay such interim compensation," said a bench of Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran.