Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Section 138—Dishonour of cheque—Acquittal—Revision—Cheque allegedly issued towards repayment of loan amount got dishonoured—Loan which was given by complainant was intended to be returned within 15 days—Circumstances in which alleged loan had been taken for 15 days, needed to be explained but complainant has failed to completely do so—Plea of accused that he had taken a friendly loan from the defence witness who was an employee with complainant and cheque in question was issued to the said witness—Testimony of accused fully corroborated by the said witness that accused had repaid the friendly loan but she was unable to return the cheque because it had got misplaced—Acknowledgement of repayment of loan was recorded in a document in which it was also mentioned that cheque has been misplaced—Intimation about missing of cheque was also given to the police—Cheque has been admittedly presented thereafter and has been dishonoured—Cheque which got misplaced from defence witness may have landed in the possession of complainant as they both were working in the same offence, a defence which cannot be completely discarded—Court below rightly concluded that there is no evidence to establish the legally enforceable liability for which the impugned cheque could have been issued by the respondent—No infirmity found in the impugned order—Petition dismissed.
[Paras 17 to 27]