Supreme Court Holds That Appellate Deposit Under Section 148 Of The NI Act Is Not Confined To The Company Alone; Issue Referred To Larger Bench.

The Supreme Court of India, in the matter titled as Bharat Mittal v. State of Rajasthan and Others¹, through its judgment dated 18.12.2025, held that the appellate court may direct deposit under Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ("NI Act") even against a director or authorized signatory convicted under Section 138 read with Section 141 of the NI Act.

The Supreme Court was of the view that director of a company cannot be granted blanket exemption from the deposit contemplated under Section 148 of the NI Act. However, in view of the decisions passed by the coordinate benches of the Supreme Court in Shri Gurudatta Sugars Marketing Pvt. Ltd. v. Prithviraj Sayajirao Deshmukh & Ors.² and Bijay Agarwal v. Medilines³, the Supreme Court noted that the issue raises an interpretative conflict requiring an authoritative pronouncement by a Larger Bench on whether such appellate deposit can be directed. Accordingly, the matter was directed to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for constitution of a Larger Bench.

Footnotes

1 Criminal Appeal No. of 2025 (@ Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 12327 of 2025).

2 2024 15 SCC 252.

3 2024 SCC OnLine 4094.

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