Page 17 - BANKING FINANCE November 2015 ONLINE

LEGAL UPDATE

Nominee is a mere custodian of deposit Refund not the final out-

The Delhi High Court had ruled that But the postal authorities insisted on come end of bank fraud
the bequest in a will shall supersede paying the nominee only. They quoted
the nomination in a bank account. The the Government Savings Bank Act trial
petitioner in this case was a former Su- 1873, under which the payment must
preme Court judge, U. N. Bachawat, be paid only to the nominee without The Supreme Court had stated in the
whose wife had bequeathed judgment, Central Bureau of Inves-
to him two deposits in a any exception. The ex- tigation vs Maninder that in a case
Delhi post office bank. judge argued that the of fraud against a bank, the accused
When he claimed the nominee was only a custo- person cannot get away by 'settling'
amount in accordance with dian of the funds and they the criminal complaint by repaying
the will, the postal authori- should be paid to the lega- the amount involved.
ties rejected his request tee.
maintaining that it was the The complaint was that the accused
nominee who was entitled to the Accepting his contention person opened a current account in
money. In this case, the nominee was and following judgments of the Su- the name of a firm with Punjab Na-
his grandson. He had relinquished the preme Court in LIC and other cases, tional Bank in Ludhiana and got an
claim and asked the postal authorities the high court affirmed the principle advance. Later, the vigilance officer
to pay his grandfather according to the that a nomination did not expel the of the bank found that the bill of lad-
will of his grandmother. testamentary and non-testamentary ing produced by him was forged.
rights. Therefore, Maninder was arrested
and criminal prosecution was
Cheque as security should not bounce launched against him under the pe-
nal code provisions and the Preven-
The Delhi High Court last week reversed the acquittal of two persons who de- tion of Corruption Act.
posited a cheque as security with a firm which con-
ducted trading in shares on credit basis. When the He moved to the Delhi high court
cheque bounced, the firm filed complaint against the claiming that he had settled the af-
two persons. fair with the bank after paying the
amount and, therefore, the com-
The Delhi magistrate acquitted them on the ground plaint should be quashed. The court
that the cheque was issued as security and not in discharge of any debt or li- did so.
ability as mentioned in the Negotiable Instruments Act. Moreover, when the
cheque was handed over, there was no transaction between the parties. The Therefore, the CBI filed an appeal.
firm appealed to the high court, and in the judgment, Credential Leasing & Allowing the appeal, the Court stated
Credits Ltd vs Shruti Investments, the court held that the magistrate applied the high court should not have exer-
wrong principles to acquit the accused persons. cised its discretion to quash the
complaint without adequate reason.
It ruled that the debt or other liability need not be in existence on the date of "In such economic offences, Court
issuance of the cheque, i.e. on the date of its delivery to the drawee on the must not only keep in view that
date that the cheque bears. The only reference to time in Section 138 is the money has been paid to the bank
point of time when the cheque is returned unpaid by the drawer's bank. which has been defrauded but also
society at large.
Green bench orders pollution fee for trucks entering
It is not a case of simple assault or a
Delhi theft of a trivial amount; but the of-
fence with which we are concerned
All commercial vehicles entering Delhi must pay an environmental compensation is a well planned and was committed
charge in addition to toll tax, the National Green Tribunal ruled. The tribunal with a deliberate design with an eye
ordered the compensation be payable at the rate of Rs 700 for two-axle vehicles, of personal profit regardless of con-
Rs 1,000 for three-axle vehicles and Rs 500 for four-axle and above vehicles. It sequence to the society at large.
also ruled all vehicles destined for places other than Delhi be diverted.

BANKING FINANCE | NOVEMBER | 2015 | 17

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