R.ARUN DEEPAK Vs. M.VIJAYA KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This case was taken up through video conferencing.

(2.) For the sake of convenience, the petitioner and the respondent will be referred to as the accused and the complainant respectively.

(3.) It is the case of the complainant that the accused and his brother Prakash became friendly with him and on 29.03.2015, the complainant gave a sum of Rs.10 lakhs as hand loan to the accused, which the accused assured to repay in two months; towards the discharge of the said loan, the accused gave a post dated cheque bearing date as 18.11.2015 on 13.10.2015; when the complainant presented the cheque on the due date, it was returned with the endorsement "payment stopped by drawer"; in order to preempt the complainant from taking any action, the accused issued a notice dated 24.11.2015 alleging that he had lost the impugned cheque on 12.10.2015 near Singanallur and that has been misused by the complainant; the complainant refuted the allegations and issued a statutory demand notice dated 07.12.2015 to the accused, for which, the accused issued a rejoinder notice dated 14.12.2015; since the accused did not comply with the demand notice, the complainant initiated a prosecution in C.C. No.252 of 2016 under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short "the NI Act") before the Judicial Magistrate (Fast Track Court No.1), Coimbatore.