Deposit of Amount in Cases of Cheque Dishonour and S.148 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

Deposit of Amount in Cases of Cheque Dishonour and S.148 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

S.148 (1) of NI Act, 1881 deals with power of Appellate Court ; it is applied only in appeals against conviction ; here, appellate court may direct appellant to deposit 20% amount. Such amount will be in addition to compensation under S.143A. S.148 (2) fixes time within which amount is to be deposited which is 60 days extendable to another 30 days. S.148 (3) gives power to Appellate Court to release amount to the complainant. 

It has been recently held that the deposit under Section 148 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, though ordinarily called for, could be waived in certain circumstances. The exercise of carving out exceptions where a deposit under Section 148 may be waived and such deposit may also be waived where an impugned order is so “wholly incorrect or erroneous that is only a matter of time for the same to be set aside”.

However, claims of financial hardship, when made to convince the Court that a deposit under Section 148 would deprive the appellant’s right to appeal, ought to be supplemented by requisite proof. 

For more details refer Ihome and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd v. State GNCTD [2025] GCtR 1692 (Delhi).