Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): District and Sessions Court here has acquitted a person in a cheque bounce case on the ground that accused lacked financial capacity to give Rs 2.35 lakh to the petitioner.
The court observed that bank account statements of accused Bhawarlal Rajput show maximum deposit of Rs 32,000 between 2014 to 2019. So, he could not have given cheque of Rs 2.35 lakh to petitioner Saroj Kumar Puri, the court stated.
As per court order, cheque of IDBI bank (cheque no 049744) was issued in favour of petitioner Saroj Kumar Puri of Rajharsh Colony, Kolar(Bhopal) by Bhawarlal Rajput of Kolar on August 25, 2014.
Petitioner produced the cheque in UCO Bank, Kolar, and it was dishonored on August 27, 2014, due to insufficient amount. A criminal case was registered on July 14, 2015, against Bhawarlal Rajput under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act.
Advocate Hemant Jain who appeared on behalf of Bhawarlal Rajput, said, “Bhawarlal used to purchase goods from shop of petitioner Saroj Puri who used to take cheques as guarantee against due payment. But Puri did not return cheques even after clearance of dues. Petitioner Puri produced the cheque with malafide intention to implicate accused Bhawarlal Rajput.”
Jain further said, “UCO Bank manager Jitendra Pahadekar statement was contradictory and he could not establish the connection of cheque and bank accounts of petitioner.”
UCO Bank (Kolar) Manager Jitendra Pahadekar, in his statement, said that cheque (no 049744 of IDBI Bank) was produced in bank account (no 2178011009573) on August 26, 2014.
Petitioner Puri withdrew it on September 29, 2019 after dishonour on September 27, 2019 citing insufficient money. Bank manager made it clear during the cross examination that cheque was not related to bank account of accused.
The bank statement shows that from 2014 to 2019, accused had maximum amount of Rs 32,000 in his account. So, it was not possible accused could have given Rs 2.35 lakh to the petitioner.
