The Biz Reporter
Srinagar, Feb 12:
A court in Srinagar on Thursday sentenced a property dealer from Budgam to one year of simple imprisonment after convicting him in a cheque bounce case.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, Ms. Tabasum, also imposed a fine of Rs 1,44,00,000 — equivalent to double the cheque amount — on the convict, Shafiq Ahmad Sheikh of Najan Beerwah, Budgam.
The complaint was filed by Muhammad Yaseen Mir through his counsel, Advocate Marouf Khan, under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The complainant alleged that the accused had cheated him in a land deal at Dodpathri in Budgam district.
According to the complaint, the accused, who shared close family relations with the complainant and was engaged in property dealings, assured him in 2018 that he would arrange over five kanals of land at Dodpathri, a well-known tourist and health resort area. Trusting the accused, the complainant paid Rs 72 lakh in several instalments.
However, when the promised revenue extracts (Intikhab-e-Jamabandi) were not provided, the complainant conducted independent inquiries and allegedly discovered that the accused had no authority over the land in question. Upon being confronted, Sheikh issued a cheque of Rs 72 lakh towards discharge of the liability.
When the cheque was presented at Ellaquai Dehati Bank, Lawaypora, it was returned unpaid on February 18, 2021, with the remark “Insufficient Funds.”
During the trial, the accused denied the allegations and claimed that a blank signed cheque had been misused. The court, however, observed that once the execution and signature on the cheque were admitted, statutory presumptions under law arose in favour of the complainant. It held that the accused failed to rebut these presumptions and described the defence of misuse of a blank cheque as a bald assertion unsupported by evidence.
The court found that all essential ingredients of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act — issuance of the cheque, dishonour due to insufficiency of funds, service of statutory notice, and failure to make payment within the prescribed period — had been duly proved.
Accordingly, the court convicted the accused and sentenced him to one year of simple imprisonment. He was also directed to pay a fine of Rs 1.44 crore, double the cheque amount, as mandated under law.
The court further directed the concerned SHO to arrest the accused and lodge him in Central Jail Srinagar forthwith. It also ordered issuance of a levy warrant to the District Collector Budgam for recovery of the fine amount through attachment and execution against the movable and immovable properties of the convict.
