Section 141 – Impleadment of all Directors of an Accused Company on the basis of a statement that they are in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the business of the company, without anything more, does not fulfil the requirements of Section 141 of the NI Act – Specific averments have to be made in the pleadings to substantiate the said statement in the complaint, that such Director was in charge of and responsible for conduct of the business of the Company or the Company – It would be a travesty of justice to drag Directors, who may not even be connected with the issuance of a cheque or dishonour thereof, such as Director (Personnel), Director (Human Resources Development) etc. into criminal proceedings under the NI Act, only because of their designation. (Para 42-46). Further, In any event there could be no justification for not dispensing with the personal appearance of the Appellants, when the Company had entered appearance through an authorized officer. As held by this Court in Pepsi Foods Ltd. v. Special Judicial Magistrate and Ors.5 summoning an accused person cannot be resorted to as a matter of course and the order must show application of mind. Para 47.
Sunita Palita v. Panchami Stone Quarry, (2022) 10 SCC 152