The Supreme Court on May 19 ordered setting up of special courts headed by retired judges in the five states with the most number of pending cases.
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- The three-judge Bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao, Justice B R Gavai, and Justice S Ravindra Bhat in this suo motu case said the special courts would be set up from September 1 in Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
- These courts will hear such cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (cheque dishonour).
- The amici curiae had reported on May 1 that there has been an increase in pendency of 737,124 cheque dishonour cases in just five months. Pending cases increased from 2,607,166 in November 2021 to 3,344,290 as of April 13, 2022.
- The states with the highest pendency of cases are Rajasthan (479,774), Gujarat (437,979), Delhi (408,992), and Uttar Pradesh (266,777).
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
- The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is applicable for the cases of dishonour of cheque. This Act has been amended many times since 1881.
- According to Section 138 of the Act, the dishonour of cheque is a criminal offence and is punishable by imprisonment up to two years or with monetary penalty or with both.
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