KARANDEEP SINGH SANDHU Vs. SUKHDEV SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Applicant ' Karandeep Singh Sandhu has filed the present application under Sec. 419(4) of BNSS, 2023, seeking grant of leave to appeal against the judgment of acquittal dtd. 1/5/2025, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ferozepur in case bearing No. NACT 903/2022, under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, titled as 'Karandeep Singh Sandhu Vs. Sukhdev Singh @ Sukha", whereby the complaint filed by the applicant herein was dismissed by acquitting the accused/respondent.

(2.) Shorn off the factual matrix of the present case, it is suffice to notice that in the recent mandate of law laid down by Hon'ble the Apex Court, in the case of M/s Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran etc. [Criminal Appeal Nos. 1868-70 of 2025, decided on 8/4/2025, reported as 2025 (3) RCR (Criminal) 208 : Law Finder Doc Id # 2737710 : 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1320], their Lordships' have answered the issue in affirmative that whether an appeal would be maintainable under the proviso to Sec. 372 Cr.P.C. (corresponding Sec. 413 of BNSS, 2023), against an order of acquittal passed in a case instituted upon a private complaint, by treating the complainant in such a proceeding as a 'victim' within the meaning ascribed to the term under Sec. 2(wa) of the Cr.P.-C.

(3.) After encapsulating in detail the provisions of Ss. 2(d), (n) and (wa), 24, 200, 372, 377, 378, 386 of the Cr.P.C.; Ss. 138, 139, 141, 142, 143 and 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; and the earlier view point of the Hon'ble Supreme Court taken in the case of Mallikarjun Kodagali (dead) represented through Legal representative v. State of Karnataka, (2019) 2 SCC 752, an ongoing debate whether the right of the victim to file an appeal against acquittal in a complaint case would fall under Sec. 372 or Sec. 378(4) of Cr.P.C., has been put to rest. Succinctly, in Celestium Financial's case (supra) it has been held that the 'victim' has a right to file an appeal under Sec. 372 of Cr.P.C. before the Court of Sessions.