Srinagar: A local court here on Monday found a man guilty for the offence pertaining to dishonour of a cheque and sentenced him to two year imprisonment besides fine of rupees six lakhs.
The court of 2nd Additional Munsiff Judicial Magistrate found one Mohammad Fayaz Shah of Fatehkadal Srinagar “guilty for offence punishable under section 138 of NI Act pertaining to dishonour of cheque bearing no. 323920 dated 30.10.2018 for an amount of ₹ 300,000 on account of insufficient funds in the bank account maintained by the accused”.
The Magistrate, Ahtzaz Ahmed, accordingly convicted and sentenced the guilty man. He directed “the accused shall undergo a sentence of simple imprisonment at Central Jail Srinagar for two years from the date of this judgment.”
A docket was directed to be issued to in-charge Central Jail, Srinagar, for compliance. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 6 lakhs on the accused which shall be payable towards the complainant in whole.
The District Magistrate, Srinagar has been accordingly directed to identify the movable or immovable properties belonging to the accused. The property “shall be attached and sold under the procedure established by law. The sale proceeds to the tune of ₹ 6 lakhs shall be thereafter paid to the complainant to compensate him,” directed the court.
The substance of the complaint suggests that the complainant, Ubaid Hassan Lanker of Bemina, was a real estate broker. “The accused had during the course of the oral purchase deal with regard to a plot of land with the complainant received an amount of Rs 300,000 as earnest money from him and the deal could not be concluded due to some price differences.”
The complaint also stated “the accused had returned the said amount through a cheque in 2018. For realization the cheque was presented before J&K Bank, branch Rajouri Kadal. However, the cheque was returned with a memo for want of sufficient funds.”
The accused has denied the liability and stated that he has not committed offence punishable under section 138 of the NI Act.
The court after hearing the litigants observed that the accused has not denied the issuance of cheque and that the complainant has proved the issuance of cheque, the memo of return. It is admitted by the accused that he has refused to pay the amount as the response to legal notice has not been objected to by the accused. As such all the ingredients of 138 of NI Act are made out, observed the court.
