Cheque-bouncing cases: Moily for special courts

With huge pendency in cheque-bouncing cases, the Government is mulling setting up of fast track courts to deal with such litigations.

In a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has sought funds to set up special courts in this regard. He has also suggested that Parliament should make new laws only after assessing the extra burden they are likely to impose on the courts and ensuring the provision of money required for the purpose, senior Law Ministry officials said.

Stressing the need for immediate setting up of special courts to deal with “surmounting” cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, Moily in his recent letter to Mukherjee has said that there are about 38 lakh cheque-bouncing cases pending in the trial courts and this needs to be speedily addressed.

The Law Ministry has cited a Law Commission report which had said that pendency of a large number of cases relating to cheque bouncing tarnishes the image of industry. It has been argued that cases relating to dish-onoured cheques affect business within and outside the country and these needed to be speedily disposed of thro-ugh this measure, lest litig-ants should lose faith in the judicial system.

“Dishonour of cheque by a bank causes incalculable loss, injury and inconvenience to the payee and the credibility of issuance of cheque is also being eroded to a large extent. The very purpose of the above amendments made in the Act for speedy disposal of dishonoured cheque cases is being lost,” the Commission said in its 213th report. Moily also stated in his letter to Mukherjee that “assessment must be made for the purpose of estimating the extra load any new bill or legislation may add to the burden of courts and expenditure required for the purpose.”

Nearly three crore cases are pending in courts (lower judiciary and higher courts) across the country, and the backlog is steadily increasing, figures available with the Ministry suggest. As a per a Law Ministry estimate made public last year, it takes 15 years on an average to finally decide a court case in India.

Moily's letter, based on the recommendations of the task force on Judicial Impact Assessment, says the government can anticipate the likely cost of implementing a legislation through the courts by a judicial impact assessment.