Meters and Instruments Private Limited & Anr. v. Kanchan Mehta
Supreme Court of India(2018) 1 SCC 560The Supreme Court issued comprehensive guidelines for the expeditious trial of S.138 cases, noting that over 38 lakh cases were pending. Held that: (i) courts should ordinarily not grant repeated adjournments to either party; (ii) evidence of the complainant by way of affidavit (S.145) is the rule, not exception; (iii) trial courts should endeavour to complete proceedings within 6 months from the date of service of summons; (iv) the offence being quasi-civil in nature, compounding at any stage — including appellate — should be actively encouraged and courts must facilitate it; and (v) S.143A interim compensation should be used to balance equities pending trial.