RAJAN P. GEORGE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The concurrent verdicts of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II, Pathanamthitta, in S.T. No.2015/2009 and that of the Additional Sessions Court (Ad-hoc)-I, Pathanamthitta, in Crl.A.No.253/2010, convicting and sentencing the petitioner for the commission of offence under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,1881 (in short, ' NI Act'), are under challenge in this revision. Since the revision petitioner passed away during the pendency of this revision, his legal representatives were impleaded as additional petitioners 2 to 5.

(2.) The case of the complainant/second respondent is that two cheques of Rs.5,00,000.00 each executed and issued by the original revision petitioner (referred to as 'accused' hereafter) towards the discharge of a liability he incurred with the second respondent in connection with three promissory notes, were dishonoured due to insufficiency of funds in the account of the accused, and that the accused did not care to make payment of the outstanding amount of Rs.10,00,000.00, despite the receipt of a statutory notice issued to him.

(3.) Before the Trial Court, the complainant was examined as PW1 and nine documents were marked as Exts P1 to P9. From the part of the accused, two witnesses were examined as DW1 & DW2, and four documents were marked as Exts D1 to D4. After an evaluation of the aforesaid evidence, the learned Magistrate found that the accused committed the offence under Sec. 138 of the NI Act. He was accordingly convicted and sentenced to imprisonment till the rising of the court and to pay a compensation Rs.10,00,000.00 to the complainant under Sec. 357(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.