Case Law Details
Yasir Amin Khan Vs Abdul Rashid Ganie (Jammu and Kashmir High Court)
Facts- Special Mobile Magistrate convicted a man and punished him with simple imprisonment for a term of 6 months in a cheque bounce case of INR 10 Lakhs and in addition, he was also held liable to pay compensation of INR 2 Lakhs to the petitioner.
The only question that begs determination in this case is what should be the approach of the trial Court while awarding punishment to an accused convicted for commission of offence under Section 138 of N.I. Act; whether the trial Court should, with or without the punishment of imprisonment, impose fine which is sufficient enough to meet the liability of the accused towards the complainant as represented by the bounced cheque?
Conclusion- The Legislature has given discretion to the Magistrate to impose a sentence of fine which may extend to double the amount of cheque and, therefore, the sentence of fine whenever imposed by the Criminal Court upon conviction of accused under Section 138 of N.I.Act must be sufficient enough to adequately compensate the complainant. The amount of cheque and the date from which the amount under the cheque has become payable along with payment of reasonable interest may serve as good guide in this regard. To be consistent and uniform, it is always advisable to impose a fine equivalent to the amount of cheque plus at least 6% interest per annum from the date of cheque till the date of judgment of conviction.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR HIGH COURT
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