Dismissed¶¶24

R.D.Raja v. J.Jayakumar

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 – S.138 complaint

Madras HC29 Jun 2026CRL OP/4043/2026

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Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Madras High Court (D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, J., 29-06-2026) dismisses a S.528 BNSS quash petition against S.138 NI Act proceedings in S.T.C.548/2025. Key point for practitioners: where the drawer entity is styled 'M/s 24 AM Studios' without a limited/private limited suffix and no registration certificate is produced, the court treats it as a proprietorship concern, so failure to array a 'company' as accused is no ground to quash a s.138 complaint.

What did the court decide?

None; the quash petition was dismissed and the proceedings in S.T.C.No. 548 of 2025 were left intact. ¶¶24

R.D.Raja Vs J.Jayakumar — Company and Corporate | Madras HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

None; the quash petition was dismissed and the proceedings in S.T.C.No. 548 of 2025 were left intact.

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Issue for consideration

Whether the proceedings in S.T.C.No. 548/2025 (private complaint under s.138 NI Act) pending before the Judicial Magistrate Court, FTC at Ambattur, are liable to be quashed under Section 528 BNSS. +1 more

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Court's answer

The Court was not inclined to quash the proceedings in S.T.C.No. 548 of 2025; the Criminal Original Petition lacks merits and is dismissed, and the connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

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Ratio / Principle

M/s 24 AM Studios is a proprietorship concern, not a registered company: from its very name it can be seen that it is not a registered company, as a company registered under the Companies Act would bear the suffix 'limited' (public) or 'private limited' (private).

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Key takeaways

No registration certificate was produced with the typed set of papers and the affidavit in support of the quash petition gives no details of registration as a company; upon perusing the cheque the Court was not able to hold M/s 24 AM Studios to be a company registered under the Companies Act.ratio¶¶19
The necessity to array the company as an accused arises only if there is a company; since M/s 24 AM Studios is a proprietory concern and not a company, the non-arrayal ground fails.ratio¶¶19

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — S.138 complaint — quash petition under S.528 BNSS against S.T.C.No.548/2025 (JMFC, FTC at Ambattur) — ground: M/s 24 AM Studios, on whose account the cheque dated 29.09.2025 was issued by the petitioner as authorised signatory, was not arrayed as accused — HELD: from the very name (absence of 'limited'/'private limited' suffix required of a company under the Companies Act) and the absence of any registration certificate or registration details in the quash affidavit, M/s 24 AM Studios is a proprietorship concern, not a registered company; the necessity to array the company as accused arises only if there is a company — petition lacking merits, dismissed; connected Crl.MP closed.

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CRL OP No. 4043 of 2026

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 29-06-2026

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CORAM

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THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE D.BHARATHA CHAKRAVARTHY CRL OP No. 4043 of 2026 and Crl MP.No.10195 of 2026

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R.D.Raja Representing M/s 24AM Studios, No.200/8,2nd Floor, Phase -1, TNHB 44HIG, Anna Nagar West Extn, Chennai-600 040

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..Petitioner(s)

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J.Jayakumar S/o.Jayaraman, No.10/649, Veeramamunivar Street, Mogappair East, Chennai-600 37

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..Respondent(s)

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Prayer: This petition is filed under Section 528 of BNSS to call for the records and quash the entire proceedings in S.T.C.No. 548/2025 pending on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, FTC at Ambattur and pass such other and further orders as this Honble Court.

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For Petitioner(s): Mrs.S.Saratha For Respondent(s): M/s.L.Manisha for Mr.F.Aadith Vijay

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ORDER

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This Criminal Original petition is filed to quash the proceedings in S.T.C.No.548 of 2025 pending on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, FTC at Ambattu, which is a private complaint filed under section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The cheque dated 29.09.2025 is issued by the petitioner

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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CRL OP No. 4043 of 2026

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as the authorised signatory of M/s 24AM Studios. The accused is before this Court seeking to quash the petition on the ground that the said M/s 24 AM Studios company is not added as an accused in the complaint and the cheque pertains to the account maintained by the said M/s 24 AM Studios, a registered company for its business purposes.

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Considering the said ground raised an Interim order was also earlier granted by this Court. On enquiry, the name of the concern is M/s 24 AM Studios and from the very name itself it can be seen that it is not a registered company. If a company is registered under the Companies Act, the name will have the suffix “limited” if it is a public company and if it is a private company it will have a suffix “private limited”. The very name shows that it is M/s 24 AM Studios which is a proprietor concern.

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Accordingly to the learned counsel for the respondent/complainant the M/s 24 AM Studios is a proprietory concern and it is not a company. The said necessity to array the company as an accused will arise, if only there is a company. Upon perusing the cheque, that it is issued by M/s 24 AM Studios, I am not able to hold the same as a company registered under companies Act. No registration certificate has been produced along with typed set of papers. No details of the registration of the same as a company is also mentioned in the affidavit in support of the quash petition.

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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CRL OP No. 4043 of 2026

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In view thereof, this Court is not inclined to quash the proceedings in

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S.T.C.No. 548 of 2025 pending on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, FTC at Ambattur. Accordingly, the Criminal Original Petition lacks merits and as such dismissed. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is also closed.

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29-06-2026

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Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order Neutral Citation: Yes/No

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smn To. Judicial Magistrate Court, FTC at Ambattur

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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CRL OP No. 4043 of 2026