Supreme Court Transfers Cheque Bounce Case from Kolkata to Mumbai for Convenience of Parties.


10 November 2025 Negotiable Instruments Act >> Criminal Law   |   Cheque Bounce >> Debt Recovery  

The Supreme Court has, in a recent order of Sri Raghavendra Educational Trust & Ors. vs Authum Investment And Infrastructure Ltd., transferred a criminal complaint filed under the Negotiable Instruments Act from Kolkata to Mumbai on grounds of convenience for both parties involved in the dispute arising out of a loan transaction.


This case involves an application by Sri Raghavendra Educational Trust and Others against Authum Investment and Infrastructure Ltd. to transfer Complaint Case No. 279389 of 2024 pending before the 16th Judicial Magistrate, Kolkata, to a competent court in Erode, Tamil Nadu. The applicants had submitted that the underlying loan transaction and issuance of the cheque had taken place within Tamil Nadu, and hence, the institution of the complaint in Kolkata was allegedly with a view to causing harassment.

 

 

Arguments were advanced by both sides before a bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. At an earlier stage, the Court had directed the respondent to file an affidavit indicating the location of its collection bank accounts so as to ascertain whether the choice of jurisdiction in Kolkata was justified. The respondent later informed the Court that though its collection accounts were maintained in Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, no such account was maintained within Tamil Nadu.

Noting this, the Court observed that since the respondent was holding bank accounts in different cities and thus in Kolkata, too, the choice of filing complaint there could not be said to be mala fide. During the hearing, however, both parties jointly submitted before the Court that the transfer of the proceedings to Mumbai would be convenient for them inasmuch as the head office of the respondent was in Mumbai.

Based on this consensus, the Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of the records from the Judicial Magistrate’s Court at Kolkata to the District and Sessions Court, Mumbai, which in turn shall assign the matter to an appropriate court for further hearing. The Court also granted exemption to both parties from appearing in person and allowed them to virtually attend the hearing unless they were specifically directed to appear in person.

By this order dated November 10, 2025, the transfer petition was disposed of to reflect the pragmatic way in which the Court balanced jurisdictional propriety with convenience and efficiency in cross-state commercial disputes.


Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881