HC appoints 5 retd judges to preside over special courts to deal with cheque bounce cases

PTI, Aug 31, 2022, 12:19 PM IST

The Delhi High Court has appointed five retired judges as presiding officers of Special Courts which have been established to deal with cheque bounce cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

According to an administrative order issued by the high court on Tuesday, the postings have been made in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court issued on May 19 this year.

The retired judges who have been appointed as presiding officers of Special Courts (NI Act) are Rakesh Siddhartha, C K Chaturvedi, Satinder Kumar Gautam, Chandra Bose and Ram Bhagat Singh and their postings will be with effect from September 1.

These five officers will be posted in trial courts having jurisdiction of South, South East, South West, Central and New Delhi districts respectively.

The office order said, “The concerned Principal District and Sessions Judge(s) shall withdraw cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 from existing courts and assign them to the aforesaid Special Courts (NI Act) in terms of the earlier directions issued by this court and the directions issued by Supreme Court vide order dated May 19, 2022 in Suo Moto Writ (Criminal) No.2 of 2020 in Re: ‘Expeditious Trial of Cases under Section 138 of NI Act, 1881’.” On May 19, the apex court had directed the constitution of special courts with a retired judge in Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for expeditious disposal of cheque bounce cases.

The order was passed in view of a large number of cases pending in these states.