<div align="justify">The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that compounding cheque dishonour cases, which clogged trial courts in the country, must be encouraged even where the complainant has been duly compensated but he has not agreed for closing the proceedings.<br /><br />It also suggested for conducting the proceedings online and conducting the trial on a day-to-day basis to conclude it within six months where the accused sought to contest the complaint.<br /><br />“We hold that where the cheque amount with interest and cost as assessed by the court is paid by a specified date, the (magistrate) court is entitled to close the proceedings in exercise of its powers under the Negotiable Instruments Act,” a bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit said.<br /><br />The court issued a slew of guidelines to dispose of the cheque dishonour cases, including the use of emails to communicate with the accused.<br /><br /></div>
<div align="justify">The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that compounding cheque dishonour cases, which clogged trial courts in the country, must be encouraged even where the complainant has been duly compensated but he has not agreed for closing the proceedings.<br /><br />It also suggested for conducting the proceedings online and conducting the trial on a day-to-day basis to conclude it within six months where the accused sought to contest the complaint.<br /><br />“We hold that where the cheque amount with interest and cost as assessed by the court is paid by a specified date, the (magistrate) court is entitled to close the proceedings in exercise of its powers under the Negotiable Instruments Act,” a bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit said.<br /><br />The court issued a slew of guidelines to dispose of the cheque dishonour cases, including the use of emails to communicate with the accused.<br /><br /></div>
