Partners have burden of proof in cheque bouncing cases that they were not in charge of the daily affairs of the firm

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Rallis India Ltd. Vs. Poduru Vidya Bhusan & Ors. (Supreme Court)

When partners of a firm issue cheques which are dishonoured, it is presumed that they were responsible for issuing them unless they prove that they were not in charge of the daily affairs of the firm. They have to discharge the burden during the trial under the Negotiable Instruments Act, the Supreme Court stated in the case, Rallis India Ltd vs Poduru Vidya. In this case, the company filed criminal complaints against three partners. They denied responsibility arguing that they had resigned before the date of the cheques. The Andhra Pradesh accepted their plea and quashed the criminal cases against them. Rallis appealed to the Supreme Court. It set aside the high court judgement and stated that the partners’ denial of responsibility and their status at the time of the issuance of cheques must be tested during the trial. The complaint against them could not be quashed by the high court using its discretionary power.