VIJAYAKUMAR Vs. VIJAYAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The challenge in this Crl. Revision Petition is against the conviction and sentence imposed against the revision Petitioner, who is the accused in a prosecution for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (for short, the N.I. Act).

(2.) The case of the complainant, the first Respondent herein, is that the complainant and the accused are close family friends and out of that relationship, the revision Petitioner/accused borrowed a sum of Rs. 2,50,000/- from the complainant on 5.12.2003 and on receipt of the said amount, towards the discharge of the said liability, the accused issued a cheque dated 5.12,2003. According to the complainant, when the above said cheque was presented for encashment, the same was dishonoured for the following reasons: (1) Drawer's signature incomplete, (2) payment stopped by the drawer and (3) funds insufficient. On receipt of the dishonour memo, the complainant caused to issue a lawyer notice informing the accused regarding the dishonour of the cheque and also demanding for the payment of the amount covered by the dishonoured cheque and in spite of receipt of the notice, no amount is paid by the accused and thus according to the complainant, the accused has committed the offence punishable under Section 138 of the N.I Act.

(3.) With the above allegation, the complainant by filing a complaint approached the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-IV Kozhikode, upon which cognizance was taken for the offence under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and instituted C.C. No. 18/2004. During the trial, the complainant himself was examined as PW1 and he produced Exts.Pl to P4 documents as Exhibits for the prosecution. From the side of the defence, no evidence, either oral or documentary, is adduced. By an elaborate judgment, the Trial Court found that the complainant had complied with all the requirements to initiate prosecution under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and also found that the cheque in question was issued to discharge a legally enforceable debt and the cheque was dishonoured for want of sufficient funds in the account of the accused. Thus the Trial Court has found that the accused is guilty of the offence punishable under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and he is convicted for the said offence. On such conviction, the accused is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for 6 months and to pay a sum of Rs. 2,50,000/- as compensation to the complainant under Section 357(3) Code of Criminal Procedure. The default sentence is fixed as 3 months simple imprisonment.