ALPESH NARENDRA SHAH Vs. MANOJ AGARWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) I.A. No. 08 of 2023 is a joint application filed by the Petitioners and Respondent herein under Sec. 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, the 'NI Act'), seeking permission to compound the offence.

(2.) Learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioners submits that under Sec. 147 of the NI Act all offences therein are compoundable. That, the compounding of the offences, can be at any stage of the proceedings. To buttress his submissions, he has placed reliance on M. Rangaswamaiah vs. R. Shettappa 2002 CRI. L. J. 4792. Accordingly, the Compromise Deed, dtd. 31/3/2023, be accepted and the Petitioners be acquitted of the offence under Sec. 138 of the NI Act that they have been convicted under.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the Respondent, in agreement with Learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioners, advanced the submission that the Supreme Court in Damodar S. Prabhu vs. Sayed Babalal H.(2010) 5 SCC 663 has propounded inter alia that an application for compounding of offences may be allowed even by the Sessions Court or the High Court, at any stage. That, the said ratio therefore permits the parties to compound the offence.