1. The Negotiable Instruments Act has been amended by The Negotiable
Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 (for the sake of brevity herein after referred to as “NI Act”) whereby section 143A has been inserted and the amendment has been notified by the Ministry of Law & Justice vide The Gazette of India dated 02.08.2018. 2. Under this provision, Magistrate can only direct the accused to pay interim compensation which shall not exceed 20% of the amount of the cheque i.e. magistrate can only directed to pay 20% compensation and the said direction does not introduce any new offence in respect of the matter as the offence u/s 138 of NI Act has already been committed and it remains same as it was earlier i.e. prior to the amendment in the NI Act. Hence, the the prosecution and penalty remains the same as per Section 138 of NI Act. 3. Also the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 itself by its Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018 does not make any act, omission or conduct offence punishable with any extra imprisonment or penalty. Prosecution’s penalty would occur only at the time of breach of the order passed under Section 143A of Negotiable Act, 1881 and hence Article 20(1) of the Constitution of India would not apply hereby and it is also clear from the statement of object and reasons of the amending Act that the amendment is of a benevolent nature introduced for the purpose of increasing the acceptability of cheques and the criminal liability is attracted only if the orders are not complied with. Moreover, if the legislative intent was not to include the cases in which plea has already been recorded, then the legislative would not have use the word “trying” which suggests that the amendment is intended to apply in all pending cases where the plea has been recorded. Moreover, if the amendment will apply only prospectively i.e to say in cases which have not been filed or in which notice u/s 251 of CrPC is yet to be framed than the same would amount to discrimination against people who have earlier filed their cases i.e. prior to the amendment in the NI Act. 4. Further, there is no irreparable damage that will be caused to the accused if Magistrate grants 20% interim compensation to the complainant as by virtue of section 143A of NI Act because the said amount can always be recovered from the complainant as per Section 143A (4) of NI Act which states that if the accused is acquitted the magistrate shall direct the complainant to repay the respective amount along with the interest at the bank rate as published by RBI to the accused for the offence under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.