Cheque-mate: 43 lakh cheque bounce cases pending in Indian courts

Over 43 lakh cheque bounce cases are pending in various courts across the country, with Rajasthan recording the highest number—more than 6.4 lakh cases, as of December 18, Times of India has reported.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal also feature among the states with significant pendency.

Cheque bounce cases, alongside traffic challans, account for a major portion of the backlog in Indian courts. While the government has introduced the option of paying traffic challans through virtual courts, cheque bounce cases continue to be heard in regular courts due to their criminal nature, involving evidence recording and witness submissions.


Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written response to Parliament on December 20, attributed the delay in resolving cheque bounce cases to several factors. These include frequent adjournments, lack of adequate monitoring mechanisms, and the absence of a prescribed time frame for case disposal by courts.

"The disposal of cases in courts is contingent upon many factors, which include availability of physical infrastructure, supporting court staff, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders viz bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants & proper application of rules and procedures," Meghwal stated, as quoted by TOI.

Acknowledging the prolonged delays, the Supreme Court had constituted a 10-member committee on March 10, 2021, to recommend steps for expediting cheque bounce cases filed under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The committee proposed the creation of dedicated "special negotiable instruments courts" to handle such cases exclusively.

To test the feasibility of this suggestion, the amici curiae recommended a pilot study in five judicial districts with the highest pendency of cheque bounce cases—one each in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

The apex court, in an order dated May 19, 2022, directed the pilot study to be conducted for one year in 25 special courts, distributed across the identified districts.

(With inputs from TOI)