Patna High Court: The Division Bench of Sanjay Karol, CJ and S. Kumar J., held that an order of payment of interim compensation under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 can be enforced under the Bihar & Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 as ‘public demand’.
Question for Consideration
Whether an order for payment of interim compensation under the Negotiable Instruments Act can be enforceable under the Bihar & Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 as a public demand?
High Court noted that Section 143A of the NI Act under sub-section (5) specifically states that interim compensation payable under this Section is recoverable as a fine under Section 421 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1881.
Section 421 (1) (b) provides for issuance of warrant to the Collector to realize amounts as arrears of land revenue from movable and immovable properties of said defaulter.
Further, clause 3 of Schedule I of the Recovery Act as already extracted hereinabove states that any money realizable as arrear of land revenue by process authorized for said purpose shall be deemed a public demand under Section 3 of the Act.
Hence, the interim compensation so ordered under Section 143A of the NI Act is recoverable as a fine under Section 421 of CrPC which then, as shown from the above discussion, clearly falls under the definition of ‘public demand’
Therefore, Lower Court was correct in issuing an order under Section 143A of the NI Act for recovery of interim compensation as land revenue.
In view of the above discussion, the petitioner was at liberty to avail of alternative remedies under the law. [Sunil Kumar v. State of Bihar, 2022 SCC OnLine Pat 1045, decided on 10-5-2022]
Advocates before the Court:
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Sumeet Kumar Singh, Advocate Mr. Amarendra Kumar Singh, Advocate
Mr. Nikhil Singh, Advocate Ms. Shatakshi Sahay, Advocate
For the Respondent/s :
Mr. Anil Kumar Singh (GP 26 ) Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Advocate