DR.DHANALAKSHMI Vs. R.KARNANITHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal revision is directed against the judgment of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Dharmapuri in C.A.No.02/2012 dated 29.08.2012 confirming the conviction and sentence passed by the Judicial Magistrate (FTC), Dharmapuri dated 18.01.12 in S.T.C.No.137 of 2011.

(2.) For the sake of convenience the parties will be referred to as complainant and accused.

(3.) It is the case of the complainant that the accused and her husband Saravanan were is close friends and they wanted a hand loan of Rs.5,00,000/- for the expansion of their hospital. Admittedly, the accused is doctor by profession and her husband is an Engineer. Accordingly, the complainant gave that Rs.5,00,000/- on 01.11.2010 and on that day itself, the accused gave a post-dated cheque for Rs.5,00,000/- drawn on ICICII Bank, Erode Branch dated 12.12.2010 (Ex.P1). At the request of the accused, the complainant did not present the cheque on 12.12.2010 and instead presented the cheque in the last week of January 2011. The cheque returned with the endorsement "Insufficient Funds" vide return memo (Ex.P2) dated 4.2.2011. The complainant issued a statutory demand notice dated 07.02.2011 (Ex.P3) which was received by the accused on 08.02.2011 by postal acknowledgement card (Ex.P4). The accused did not give any reply to the notice nor make the payment. Therefore, the complainant initiated a prosecution in S.T.C.No.137 of 2011 before the Fast Track Clourt, Magisterial Level, Dharmapuri under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 against the accused.