The
government is likely to introduce long-pending amendments to the Negotiable
Instruments Act, 1881, in the next session of Parliament as part of steps being
taken to unclog the huge backlog of cheque-bouncing cases in the country's
courts. The amendment bill proposes the use of alternative ways to resolve
disputes, lays down the procedure to be followed in such cases and suggests
making electronic transactions free of cost to promote their use.
"The
department of financial services has finalised these amendments and the bill is
expected to come up in Parliament in the next session," said a senior law
ministry official.
The
matter was brought to the notice of the law minister in the advisory council
meeting on August 26, he added. The Negotiable Instruments Act was amended in
2002 to make cheque bouncing a criminal offence. The proposed amendments could
help to reduce the pendency of cheque-bouncing cases under section 138 of the
act, which provides for prosecution.
The
amendments have been framed on the basis of suggestions made by an
inter-ministerial group set up in 2012 to look into policy and legislative
changes to curb the increasing number of cheque-bouncing cases. As per
government data, more than 3.8 million cheque-bouncing cases have been pending
in various courts as of 2011.
Once the
changes in the act are effected, all such cases will have to be decided through
an alternative dispute resolution mechanism — arbitration, conciliation or
settlement. The department of financial services has also finalised a procedure
to deal with cheque bounce cases, said the official. The proposal to amend the
act was first moved by the law ministry in 2011 as a part of a pendency
reduction drive. Early this year, the Supreme Court issued guidelines for the
speedy disposal of cheque bounce cases.
Source : The Economic Times
