The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a husband cannot be summoned as an accused under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act if the wife, as the sole proprietor of a business, issues the cheque.
The Single Judge Bench of Justice Umesh Chnandra Sharma allowed the Petition filed against the summoning order under Section 138 NI Act.
In this case the petitioner, Pawan Garg, sought to quash the summoning order, the Court found that he could not be summoned as he was neither the proprietor nor authorised signatory of the firm in question, M/s Aircon Gallery.
The Court noted that the wife and husband have separate legal entities and that there was no evidence to suggest that the cheque had been signed by the applicant or that he had acted as a guarantor or authorised signatory.
The Court observed:
The impugned cheque had been issued by Kajal Garg, opposite party no. 3, the sole proprietor of opposite party no. 1 of the complaint. There is no paper to establish that the applicant is authorized signatory, agent or co-proprietor of the Firm. In the eye of law, wife and husband have separate entity. It is also not a case that the wife, sole proprietor of the Firm had provided the cheque signed by or on behalf of the applicant.Consequently, the Court set aside the summoning order against the applicant.