RALLIS INDIA Vs. SRI LAKSHMI AGENCIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Criminal Appeal No.523 of 2018 is filed by the appellant, aggrieved by the acquittal of accused vide judgment in C.C.No.81 of 2013 dtd. 8/2/2017. Criminal Appeal No.591 of 2018 is filed by the appellant aggrieved by the acquittal of accused vide judgment in C.C.No.84 of 2013 dtd. 8/2/2017. Criminal Appeal No.592 of 2018 is filed by the appellant aggrieved by the acquittal of accused vide judgment in C.C.No.82 of 2013 dtd. 8/2/2017, and Criminal Appeal No.627 of 2018 is filed by the appellant aggrieved by the acquittal of accused vide judgment in C.C.No.83 of 2013 dtd. 8/2/2017. Since parties in all the appeals are one and the same, they are being heard together and disposed off by way of this Common Judgment.

(2.) The appellant company herein is the complainant before the learned III Special Magistrate, Hyderabad. A private complaint was filed to punish the respondent/accused for the offence under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The complainant company is a public limited company and the 1st respondent/1st accused is a partnership firm represented by its partners A2 to A7. A3 is the signatory of the cheques in question, in all the cases. According to the complainant, all other accused, i.e., A2, A4 to A7 were responsible for the day to day activities of A1 partnership firm and are jointly liable.

(3.) Briefly, the case of the complainant company in all the cases is that the complainant company's products, which are fertilizers, chemicals, and pesticides, were supplied to the respondents/accused on a regular basis as part of a business understanding. The products were delivered by the complainant company and accepted by the accused firm. Towards payment of the outstanding amounts for the products supplied, cheques in question were issued. The following cheques, when presented for clearance, were returned unpaid on the ground of, "payment stopped by drawer", and in Crl.A.No.627 of 2018, the reason for return of the cheque is, "insufficient funds".