Advocate Bharat Singh

Questions Answered by Advocate Bharat Singh

Q: Authorised signatory, an employee in a corporate firm

I am a aurthorised signatory Working as an employee in corporate firm. I signed cheques along with my ceo which hit bounced and the matter is in court. What defences can I have as an employee

Advocate Bharat Singh answered
SirIf you are an authorised signatory and only followed the instructions of the management then you can simply say that you are only an employee and had no role in the dishonour of cheque.The authorised signatory can't be held personally liable if he had no role in the transaction.

Q: Non Payment of due amount as it is a interior done for client

Hi, we are into Interior business and the client didn't pay the balance amount and When we said if the payment not made, we will take legal action, he is threatening us to take legal action against us. Please suggest what we can do in this. How it proceeds

Advocate Bharat Singh answered
Sir,We have to send a legal notice. Many times when a party receives legal notice from a lawyer, it immediately pays.If they still don't pay then we can file a criminal complaint against them for cheating subject to the fact that they haven't paid anything. We can also file civil suit if you have documents like contract, invoices and communication with the party.

Q: WHO SHOULD THE HONBLE COURT ISSUE SUMMON TO INCASE OF PVT LTD CO

Hello All, In my NI 138 case against a pvt ltd company, I have been asked by judge to prove as to which of the active directors has signed the cheque which bounced. Now the only way to find name and signature together is either on a PAN Card or on a signed balance sheet (as I have been told by my CA). I do not have access to PAN Cards of any directors. I have also tried to procure certified copy of some resolution (by paying fee and stamp duty on MCA Web site) passed by Board of company in 2019. My question is, should the court not issue summons to all directors or seek the information directly from the company as to who is the person who has signed the cheque. As far as I know, any person (non-directorial personnel) authorized by company can sign the cheque. Does that mean that the liability is limited to the signatory on cheque and not on entire company?

Advocate Bharat Singh answered
Sir,The summons are issued against the person who has signed the cheque, company and all the directors who are responsible for the affairs of the company.The judge can't ask you to prove the signature of any director. If he is the director, summons will be issued against him. However, he might get the proceedings quashed if he was not responsible for the affairs of the company.The director can also be made liable, however, one has to show in the complaint that director was in charge of, and responsible for, the conduct of the company's business at the time when the cheque got dishonored