A law that gave trial courts the liberty to order interim compensation to victims of cheque bounce even when the appeal against the offender was pending will now apply to cases filed before the date of its enactment nine months ago.

This ruling by the Supreme Court was the outcome of a cheque-bounce case from Chandigarh where a trial court directed a man to deposit 25 per cent of the cheque amount plus one per cent interest as fine to get his sentence suspended.

Surinder Singh Deswal was convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and the trial court sentenced him to two years imprisonment on October 30, 3018. Deswal appealed to the Additional Sessions Judge, Panchkula, seeking relief.

The Panchkula court agreed to suspend the sentence but applied Section 148 of the NI Act that came into operation on September 1, 2018. This provision allowed the court to order an interim deposit of the total cheque amount in question during the hearing of the appeal against conviction and sentence. The court directed Deswal to deposit Rs 37.7 crore in sixty days as a condition for suspending his sentence.

Deswal approached the Supreme Court claiming that Section 148 won't apply to his case as the complaint against him was lodged prior to September 1, 2018 – the date when the law became effective. However, the complainant's lawyer, Alok Sangwan, told the apex court that the section was introduced to provide succor to victims who unnecessarily have to waste precious time and resources till a final decision arrives after a protracted delay.

A bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna said, "We are of the opinion that Section 148 of the NI Act as amended, shall be applicable in respect of the appeals against the order of conviction and sentence for the offence under Section 138 of the NI Act even in a case where the criminal complaints for the offence under Section 138 of NI Act were filed prior to September 1, 2018." However, considering the fact that the accused in this case had to pay a huge amount, the Court extended the time to deposit the money by another four weeks.

The New Law

• Section 148 of Negotiable Instruments Act came into force on September 1, 2018
• It empowers a court to order interim relief during pendency of appeals against conviction/sentence