Susanta Behera Vs State of Odisha — Cheque Dishonour | Orissa HC (2026)

Susanta Behera Vs State of Odisha — Cheque Dishonour | Orissa HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

CRLMC disposed of with directions: petitioner to deposit 20% of the cheque amount before the learned trial Court in compliance of Section 143(A) of the N.I. Act; trial Court thereafter to explore settlement between the parties, including via mediation, and if mediation fails, to proceed in accordance with law.

Issue for consideration

Whether the trial Court's cognizance under Section 138 of the N.I. Act should be interfered with, given that the complaint allegedly contains no averment regarding the purpose for which the subject cheque was issued. +2 more

Court's answer

At this stage there is no reason to interfere; the trial Court's order taking cognizance under Section 138 of the N.I. Act cannot be found fault with.

Ratio / Principle

Whether the cheque was issued to liquidate a legally recoverable debt is a matter to be established in the trial, and the complainant has to discharge the onus to establish the same.

Key takeaways

The petitioner is directed to deposit 20% of the cheque amount before the learned trial Court in compliance of Section 143(A) of the N.I. Act.ratio¶21
Thereafter, the trial Court shall explore all possibility for settling the matter between the parties, even by resorting to the mediation process; if mediation is unsuccessful for any reason, the trial Court shall proceed in accordance with law.ratio¶21

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

CRLMC No.50 of 2025, High Court of Orissa at Cuttack (Sibo Sankar Mishra, J.), order dated 13.01.2026 — Challenge to cognizance under Section 138 of the N.I. Act. Counsel pointed out that the complaint contained no averment regarding the purpose for which the subject cheque was issued, though the statutory notice under Section 138 enumerated the transaction for which the cheque was issued. The Court held that whether the cheque was issued to liquidate a legally recoverable debt is to be established in the trial, where the complainant bears the onus, and found no reason to interfere with the order dated 10.08.2023 of the learned S.D.J.M., Kendrapara in 1.C.C. Case No.158 of 2023 taking cognizance. On counsel's suggestion, acceded to by the Court, the petitioner was directed to deposit 20% of the cheque amount before the trial Court in compliance of Section 143(A) of the N.I. Act, and the trial Court was directed to explore settlement, including by resort to mediation, failing which to proceed in accordance with law. CRLMC disposed of.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK

CRLMC No.50 of 2025

Susanta Behera

…. Petitioner(s)

Mr. Parsuram Panda, Advocate

-versus-

State of Odisha and another

…. Opposite Party(s)

Ms. Suvalaxmi Devi, ASC

CORAM: JUSTICE SIBO SANKAR MISHRA

ORDER

Order No.

02.

1. Heard.

13.01.2026

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 10.08.2023

passed by the learned S.D.J.M., Kendrapara in 1.C.C. Case No.158 of 2023, whereby the learned trial Court has taken cognizance of offence under Section 138 of the N.I. Act against him.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner by taking me to the copy of the complaint submitted that in the complaint, there is not an iota of averment regarding purpose for which the subject cheque was issued. However, on the query from the Court, the petitioner further fairly submitted that in the statutory notice under Section 138 of the N.I. Act issued to him, detailed transaction for which the cheque was issued has been enumerated.

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4. Whether the cheque was issued to liquidate legally recoverable debt or not is to be established in the trial. The complainant has to discharge the onus to establish the same. Therefore, at this stage, I do not find any reason to interfere with this matter. The order passed by the learned trial Court taking cognizance under Section 138 of the N.I. Act cannot be found fault with. Hence, no interference is called for.

5. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he would comply with the requirement of provision under Sections 143(A) of the N.I. Act by depositing 20% of the cheque amount before the trial Court and the learned trial Court may be directed to explore the possibility of settlement through mediation process before putting him to trial. The suggestion made by learned counsel for the petitioner is fair and reasonable. Hence, the same is acceded to. The petitioner is directed to deposit 20% of the cheque amount before the learned trial Court in compliance of Section 143(A) of the N.I. Act. The learned trial Court, thereafter, shall explore all possibility for settling the matter between the parties even by resorting to the mediation process. If for any reasons mediation remained unsuccessful, the trial Court shall proceed in accordance with law.

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6. With this observation, the CRLMC is disposed of.

(S.S. Mishra) Judge

Swarna

Signature Not Verified

Digitally Signed Signed by: SWARNAPRAVA DASH Designation: Senior Stenographer Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 13-Jan-2026 19:43:16

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