SHANTAL KAMAT Vs. MILIND LADU KERKAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India challenging Order dtd. 17/10/2022 passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panaji, Goa, allowing the application preferred by the Respondent under Sec. 145(2) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ('N. I. Act', for short).

(2.) The Petitioner is the original Complainant. The complaint was filed for an offence under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. It was registered as OA/247/2021/E. The grievance of the Complainant is that the accused was working for the Company M/s. Chrome Business & Trade (I) Pvt. Ltd. The accused was designated as Business Manager. The Company was dealing in the business of offering various schemes wherein the customers can invest in gold with promises of high returns on the investments and the customer was allotted unique Customer Code. The accused appointed the Complainant as authorized agent on behalf of Company and messaged an Agent Code to the Complainant. The accused promised that the Complainant would receive high commissions which would be commensurate to the number of new customers acquired by her. The Company brought several new customers who invested heavily in purchasing gold. The accused subsequently represented that he is focusing on re-investment and the business was down due to pandemic Covid-19 and the accused told the Complainant to encourage existing customers to renew the policies which had crossed maturity date and promised that it would double their profits which would be beneficial to the Complainant. The accused delayed the payment towards customers whose policies had crossed the maturity dates and such customers started complaining to the Company for their payments. The Complainant demanded the amount. The accused made written commitment to pay the amount of Rs.47,26,850.00 in instalments. The accused issued a cheque bearing no. 410220 dtd. 26/7/2021 for an amount of Rs.47,26,850.00. The Complainant deposited the cheque which was dishonoured. Legal notice dtd. 18/8/2021 was sent to the accused. It was replied by the accused. The accused failed to make the payment. Complaint was filed for an offence under Sec. 138 of the N.I. Act on 13/9/2021.

(3.) The Complainant tendered affidavit of evidence. The accused preferred an application under Sec. 145(2) of the N. I. Act seeking permission to cross examine the Complainant. The application was opposed by the Complainant by filing reply. The learned Magistrate allowed the said application vide Order dtd. 17/10/2022.