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to interpretation of Sections 138 and 141 of the Negotiable
Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, “NI Act”) by a three-Judge
Bench as there was difference of opinion between the two
learned Judges in Aneeta Hada v. Godfather Travels and
Tours (P) Ltd.1.
4.
Regard being had to the pleas raised by Avnish Bajaj and
also the similarity of issue that arose in the context of NI Act,
the three-Judge Bench stated the controversy that emerged for
consideration thus:“2. In Criminal Appeals Nos. 1483 and 1484 of
2009, the issue involved pertains to the
interpretation of Section 85 of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 (for short “the 2000 Act”)
which is in pari materia with Section 141 of the Act.
Be it noted, a Director of the appellant Company
was prosecuted under Section 292 of the Penal
Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the 2000 Act without
impleading the Company as an accused. The
initiation of prosecution was challenged under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
before the High Court and the High Court held that
offences are made out against the appellant
Company along with the Directors under Section 67
read with Section 85 of the 2000 Act and, on the
said base, declined to quash the proceeding.
3. The core issue that has emerged in these two
appeals is whether the Company could have been
1 (2008) 13 SCC 703
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