Cricketer Uthappa gets relief in cheque bounce case as court proceedings stayed temporarily

Mumbai: A Mumbai sessions court has temporarily stayed a magistrate court's proceedings against former India cricketer Robin Uthappa in a 2019 cheque bounce case, noting it appears he was not in-charge of day-to-day affairs of a company linked to the matter.

In 2019, a private firm, Senior Marketing Pvt Ltd, had filed a complaint before a magistrate court in Mumbai against another company, Centaurus Lifestyle, and its directors, including Uthappa, for issuing a posted dated cheque, which was dishonoured due to "insufficient balance".

Following this, the trial court initiated proceedings against Centaurus Lifestyle and its directors.

The additional sessions judge, in an order on Thursday, noted that prima facie it appears the applicant (Uthappa) was not in charge of day-to-day affairs of the accused company (Centaurus Lifestyle) when the disputed cheque was dishonoured.

The judge then stayed the trial court's proceedings against the 38-year-old cricketer until January 4, 2025, as his plea challenging the magistrate's order was yet to be heard.

The former India batter, in his revision plea filed before the sessions court, noted that the magistrate, in June 2019, had issued summonses to all the accused, but no one appeared on the given date.

Later, in January 2020, the magistrate issued a bailable warrant against the accused in the cheque bounce case, including the cricketer. Between 2021 and 2023, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against them. Even then none of the accused appeared before the magistrate, so the lower court issued a proclamation order against them in early 2024.

Uthappa, in the revision plea filed through advocate Siddhesh Borkar, claimed he came to know about the case, summons and NBW only when he was called by the Indiranagar Police Station, Bengaluru, in April 2024, following the issuance of the proclamation order.

The cricketer's plea said Centaurus Lifestyle had signed an agreement with the complaint firm (Senior Marketing) for distribution and sale of their merchandise in Mumbai and nearby areas.

However, owing to some conflicts, the agreement was broken. The lifestyle company then issued a posted dated cheque of Rs 22,22,729 drawn on Federal Bank to the marketing firm. The cheque, however, was dishonoured with the remark "insufficient balance", it said.

The cricketer asserted he was merely a "non-active" director of Centaurus Lifestyle on the account of being an investor in the company.

Uthappa told the sessions court he had no role in either business transaction, administration or day-to -day affairs of the lifestyle company.

The cricketer claimed the magistrate's order issuing summons was "illegal, improper and suffers from grave infinity".

"The trial court has failed to consider various material facts pertaining to the instant case and has passed the impugned order in a mechanical manner without proper application of judicious mind," the revision plea argued.

The sessions judge, considering the cricketer's submission, has temporarily stayed the proceedings against him in the magistrate court.