The High Court on Sunday observed that sending anyone to jail in cheque dishonour case is contrary to Article 32 of the Constitutional. In a verdict, the court also observed that depriving a person of his freedom is unconstitutional, and imprisonment of a person in a check dishonour case under the Negotiable Instruments Act amounts to deprivation of personal liberty.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal passed the observation in a verdict after hearing some criminal petitions filed in this regard.
The judge has suggested the National Parliament amend Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 for abolishing the provision of jail in check dishonour cases. Apart from this, the court has issued a guideline to follow for the settlement of dishonour cases until the amendment of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
The High Court observed in the judgment that sending a person to jail or keeping anyone in jail in a cheque dishonour case is a violation of Article 32 of the Constitution and Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As a signatory country of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Bangladesh cannot send a person to jail in a cheque dishonour case.
The court took the example of the developed world and said that in various countries including Singapore, France, England, Australia, there is no provision for sending anyone to jail in check dishonor cases. In these countries, check dishonor cases are considered civil.
The court observed that “no person can be imprisoned for failure to fulfil contractual obligations. Most of the people in Bangladesh will soon be in jail if they are sent to jail for failure to fulfil their contractual obligations. No one wants it.”
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