The incident occurred when the High Court was hearing a plea seeking quashing of a first information report (FIR) registered for the offence of cheating by the first petitioner’s sister, arising from a dispute relating to the ancestral property of their late father.
The complainant had claimed that the petitioner gave her seven cheques, all of which were dishonoured. Thus, she registered a criminal case against her brother and his wife.
On examining whether a cheque bounced on account of closure of account could constitute an offence under the Indian Penal Code, the Court noted that it was a well-settled principle of law that general law would not prevail over special law like the Negotiable Instruments Act.
Thus, the registration of this case was apparently malicious and deserved to be quashed, the Court held.
Source: Barandbench