M.N.PURUSHOTHAMAN Vs. LEELA VARGHESE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the accused in C.C.No.1048 of 2014 on the files of the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class, Piravom. He was convicted by the learned Magistrate for an offence punishable under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (N.I.Act) and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months. He was further directed to pay compensation of Rs.9,97,000.00. In the appeal, the conviction was confirmed. But the sentence was modified. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment till the rising of the court and directed to pay compensation Rs.9,97,000.00 to the complainant, who is the 1st respondent herein. Aggrieved by the said judgment of conviction and the order of sentence, this Revision Petition has been filed under Sec. 397 read with Sec. 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Code).

(2.) The petitioner and the 1st respondent have settled the dispute. They together filed Crl.M.A.No.1 of 2020 seeking permission to compound the offence. This Court as per the order dtd. 31/8/2021 directed the revision petitioner to deposit 15% of the cheque amount of Rs.9,97,000.00 as compounding fees. Later, the petitioner filed Crl.M.A.No.2 of 2021 seeking to modify the said order directing to deposit 15% of the cheque amount. That petition was disposed of, granting one month more time to deposit the costs for compounding and refusing to modify the order.

(3.) Today, when the matter is taken up for consideration, the learned counsel for the 1st respondent submitted that he is satisfied with the amount of Rs.3,99,200.00, which the petitioner had deposited in the trial court as per the orders of the Appellate Court, besides Rs.1,00,800.00, which was already paid to her by the petitioner. The learned counsel for the petitioner by placing reliance on the decisions of the Apex Court in Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority v. Pratheek Jain [(2014) 10 SCC 690], wherein it was held that payment of costs for compounding of an offence under Sec. 138 of the N.I.Act is not mandatory in every case, but only discretionary, seeks to waive the cost for compounding.