MANDEEP SINGH Vs. KULWINDER SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner, incarcerated on having been convicted under Sec. 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 by the Trial Court as well as Sessions Court, had come up before this Court by filing the present Revision Petition on 15/12/2023 under Sec. 401 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [Cr.P.C.]. However, since the Petitioner did not assail the Judgment passed by the Sessions Court within the Statutory limitation of ninety days, the Petitioner had also filed an Application under Sec. 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of delay of 38 days. Technically speaking, unless the delay was condoned, no Criminal Revision Petition was pending before this Court. Thus, the primary matter before this Court was adjudicating the Application under Sec. 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963.

(2.) The Complainant has been arraigned as the First Respondent and the State of Punjab as the second. The First Respondent, the Aggrieved Party, did not file any reply to the Delay Application CRM-53576-2023. As per the Application, the reasons for the delay were the Petitioner's confinement in jail, which resulted in exceeding the limitation for challenging the Judgment of Sessions Court by 38 days. These are sufficient grounds to condone the delay in filing the Revision Petition and extend the time to file the Appeal. Given the above, the Application for Delay, CRM-53576-2023, is allowed, the delay is condoned, and the time to file the Revision Petition is extended till the date of filing.

(3.) On 19/12/2023, when the matter was listed for the first time, it was adjourned on the Petitioner's request to 11/1/2024, on which date Notices were issued in both Applications and the main Revision Petition returnable for 26/2/2024. When the matter was taken up on 16/4/2024, Respondent No.1-Complainant had put in an appearance through his Counsel, and on that date, Counsel for the Petitioner sought time to ascertain the possibility of payment of Compensation amount to the Complainant and the matter was adjourned for today, i.e., 2/6/2024. However, in the meantime, Cr.P.C. stood repealed w.e.f. 1/7/2024.