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2020 (12) TMI 62 - HC - Indian LawsDishonor of Cheque - insufficiency of funds - offence punishable under Section 138 of the NI Act or not - existence of debt and liability or not - rebuttal of presumptions - Sections 118 and 139 of the NI Act - HELD THAT:- It is well settled law that when concurrent findings of facts rendered by the trial court and the appellate court are sought to be set aside in revision, the High Court does not, in the absence of perversity, upset factual findings arrived at by the two courts below. It is not for the revisional court to re-analyse and reinterpret the evidence on record in a case, where the trial court has come to a probable conclusion. Unless the contrary is proved, it is presumed that the holder of a cheque received the cheque of the nature referred to in Section 138 of the NI Act for the discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or other liability. In the case at hand, the accused has no case that she has not signed the cheque or parted with under any threat or coercion. That apart, the accused has no case that unfilled cheque had been lost irrecoverably or stolen. The accused failed to prove in the trial by leading cogent evidence that there was no debt or liability. Both the trial court and the appellate court rightly held that the burden was on the accused to disprove the initial presumption under Sections 118 and 139 of the NI Act. The burden is not discharged rightly. The complaint was filed before the trial court in 2006. The complainant has been prosecuting this case for the last 14 years. The accused has not adduced rebuttal evidence before the trial court. It is not just and proper to remand the case for retrial on the strength of the additional documents produced. The accused has been conducting this criminal case for the last 14 years. Considering the facts and circumstances, it is just and proper to modify the sentence awarded by the two courts below by sustaining the conviction imposed - criminal revision petition is partly allowed.
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