A Mumbai sessions court has set aside the summons issued to former cricketer Robin Uthappa in a 2019 cheque bounce case, citing a mandatory inquiry under Section 202 CrPC was not conducted. The matter is now sent back to the trial court for fresh proceedings.
Mumbai: A sessions court in Mumbai has set aside the summons issued by a magistrate against former India cricketer Robin Uthappa in a 2019 cheque bounce case. The court observed that the trial court did not carry out a mandatory inquiry under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before passing its order.
Additional Sessions Judge Kunal Dhanaji Jadhav, in a ruling delivered last month, remanded the matter back to the trial court and directed it to conduct an inquiry under Section 202 of the CrPC.
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An inquiry under Section 202 is a preliminary investigation conducted by a magistrate to decide whether there are sufficient grounds to issue a summons against an accused in a private complaint case. This procedure is especially important when the accused resides outside the territorial jurisdiction of the court.
Uthappa had filed a revision application through advocate Siddhesh Borkar before the sessions court against a June 7, 2019, order passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate in Mazgaon.
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In 2019, a private firm, Senior Marketing Pvt Ltd, had filed a complaint before the magistrate court in Mumbai against another company, Centaurus Lifestyle, and its directors, including Uthappa.
The complaint concerned a post-dated cheque issued by Centaurus Lifestyle, which was dishonoured due to “insufficient balance.”
In his revision plea, the cricketer highlighted that he is a resident of Bengaluru, which is beyond the local jurisdiction of the court. He stated that the magistrate had failed to conduct the mandatory inquiry under Section 202 of the CrPC before issuing the process.
Centaurus Lifestyle had signed an agreement with the complainant firm for the distribution and sale of its merchandise in Mumbai and nearby areas.
However, due to certain conflicts, the agreement was terminated. Following this, the lifestyle company issued a post-dated cheque of Rs 22,22,729 drawn on Federal Bank to the marketing firm. The cheque, however, bounced with the remark “insufficient balance,” Uthappa’s plea stated.
The cricketer maintained that he was merely a “non-active” director of Centaurus Lifestyle as he was only an investor in the company. He also pointed out that the magistrate did not consider that he had no role in the company’s day-to-day operations.
According to the plea, the cricketer had even filed a criminal complaint against the accused company for the misuse of funds.
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The sessions judge observed that on perusal of the magistrate’s order, it was clear that no inquiry, which is mandatory under the CrPC, had been conducted.
This was significant because Uthappa is a resident of a place beyond the court’s territorial jurisdiction.
Based on these findings, the court set aside the summons issued to Robin Uthappa and remanded the matter back to the trial court.
The court instructed the trial court to conduct a proper inquiry under Section 202 of the CrPC and follow the correct legal procedure thereafter.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Cheque Bounce Case
