RAVI KUMAR Vs. SHAKTI CHOLIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the present revision petition against the order dtd. 4/10/2024, passed by learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Una, District Una. It has been asserted that the respondent filed a complaint against the petitioner for the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (N I Act). The petitioner filed an application under Sec. 94 read with Sec. 348 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) for tendering in evidence a certified copy of the complaint filed by the petitioner against the respondent for the commission of offences punishable under Ss. 420, 465, 468, 471, 342 and 506 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Learned counsel for the respondent had cross-examined the petitioner about his complaint. The document is relevant and necessary to decide the dispute. The complaint mentions that the respondent and her associates had obtained the cheque forcibly. The petitioner wanted to tender the certified copy of the complaint, which is per se admissible, and no witness was required to be summoned to prove the complaint. No prejudice would be caused to the other side. The learned Trial Court dismissed the application on the ground that it was filed at a belated stage. The order passed by the learned Trial Court is arbitrary, irrational and mechanical. The proof of complaint is necessary to establish that the respondent had obtained the cheque in question forcibly. Therefore, it was prayed that the record of the learned Trial Court be called and the petitioner be permitted to bring the complaint on record.

(2.) I have heard Mr. Sunil Mohan Goel, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. Vipul Sharda, learned counsel for the petitioner.

(3.) Mr. Sunil Mohan Goel, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the learned Trial Court erred in dismissing the application. The document is highly relevant to prove the plea taken by the petitioner. The petitioner has a right to rebut the presumption of consideration attached to the cheque under Sec. 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. No prejudice shall be caused to the other side. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the order passed by the learned Trial Court be set aside.