Cheque Bounce: SC Issues Norms for Fast Resolution of Cases

The Supreme Court has issued guidelines for the early resolution of check bounce cases and has asked the Centre to amend the laws. The Supreme Court on Friday issued a slew of orders aimed at expediting the resolution of check bounce cases, including a request that the Centre amend laws to allow for the clubbing of trials in cases filed against the same individual within a year.

The Supreme Court has ordered all high courts in the country to provide guidelines for trial courts dealing with check bounce cases.

A five-judge panel led by Chief Justice S A Bobde also stated that testimony in cheque dishonour cases can now be presented by affidavits, and that there is no longer any need to physically test witnesses.

It had previously described the backlog of over 35 lakh cheque bounce cases as "grotesque" and recommended that the Centre enact legislation to establish new courts for a set period of time to deal with them.

What is bounced cheque?

Cheque bounce is one of the most common financial offences that can put the issuer in legal trouble and damage their credit score. A circumstance involving a cheque Bounce is a concept that describes the failure to process a disbursed cheque for a variety of reasons. The check is then returned to the sender as unpaid or unhonoured.

A cheque is bounced when the issuer writes a bad cheque for technical reasons such as mismatching signatures or overwriting, or when there are insufficient funds in the account as a result of the bank failing to process it.

Both the defaulter and the payee are fined by their respective banks if a cheque bounces. If the bounced check is related to the repayment of a loan, you will be charged late fees in addition to the bank's penalty fee.