NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha on Monday approved a bill which seeks to offer faster prosecution in cases linked to dishonoured cheques as well as compensation to a complainant.

The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, which aims to cut down unnecessary litigation over bounced cheques, was passed by a voice vote. It allows a court trying a cheque bounce offence to direct the person who wrote the cheque to pay an interim compensation to the complainant. The bill amends the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Junior finance minister Shiv Pratap Shukla while moving the bill said it would bring down litigation and provide credibility to cheques and cut down delays in cheque bounce cases. “Banks will be helped by these amendments,” Shukla said an urged members to support the bill.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said it was an important legislation and called for a provision for “trial in absentia”.

He also urged the government to set up fast track courts to deal with cases of bounced cheques. Another bill, which amends the insolvency law and empowers homebuyers to be recognised as financial creditors, was introduced in Lok Sabha. Finance minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018. It replaces the ordinance approved by the cabinet in May.

BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab said some amendments in the bill were aimed at favouring a particular industry, a charge which was rejected by Goyal who said the law was prospective and was “not intended to benefit anyone”.

The amendments will enable representatives of homebuyers to be part of the committee of creditors, which finally approves a resolution plan based on a bidding process and is meant to ensure that bankers do not secure their interests while the most aggrieved players get a raw deal.

