Sending someone to jail for dishonoured cheque is against constitution: HC

The High Court has observed that sending a person to jail for a dishonoured cheque is contrary to Article 32 of the country's Constitution.

The court said depriving a person of their personal freedom is unconstitutional. 

Imprisonment of a person for a bounced cheque under the Negotiable Instrument (NI) Act means deprivation of personal liberty.

The court advised the National Parliament to amend Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act and abolish the jail provision in cheque dishonour cases.

Apart from this, until section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act is amended, the court directed that a guideline be formulated for settlement of these types of cases.

On Sunday, the single bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal made the observation in disposing of several cases involving dishonoured cheques.

The High Court observed that sending a person to jail in such a 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, Bangladesh cannot send a person to jail in a cheque dishonour case.

No person can be imprisoned for failure to fulfil contractual obligations, according to the court. 

"If sent to jail for failure to fulfil contractual obligations, most people in Bangladesh will soon be in jail. No one wants that," the court said.

The court also said, "We hope the National Parliament will amend Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act very soon."

Until the National Parliament amends Article 138, cheque dishonour cases under Article 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act will be negotiable. 

A fine of up to three times can be imposed instead of a jail sentence in cheque dishonour cases, added the court. 

The court ordered a copy of this judgement to be sent to all courts in the country and to the law ministry.