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2022 (6) TMI 295 - KARNATAKA HIGH COURTDishonor of Cheque - acquittal of the accused - section 138 of N.I. Act - Whether the appellant/complainant has made out the ground to interfere with the impugned judgment of acquittal? - HELD THAT:- The offence punishable under section 138 of N.I. Act can be completed only with the concatenation of a number of acts. The following are the acts which are components of the offence. (1) drawing of the cheque, (2) presentation of cheque to the bank, (3) returning the cheque unpaid by the drawee Bank, (4) giving notice in writing to the drawer of the cheque demanding payment of the dishonoured cheque amount, (5) failure of the drawer to make payment within 15 days of the receipt of the notice - Section 139 of the N.I. Act says, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the holder of a cheque received the cheque of the nature referred to in section 138 for the discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or other liability. On perusal of Ex. P1-cheque, which indicates that there are two signatures found on it. The Respondent has denied the signature affixed in the amount corrected. No effort has been made to prove the signature of the Respondent. The Appellant admitted that the Respondent had a money transaction with his mother-in-law and his mother-in-law has died. A specific question was put to the Appellant during cross-examination that he had no financial capacity to lend such a huge amount; it was the Appellant who had to discharge the initial burden. In this case, PW. 1 has examined his co-brother-PW. 2 and tried to convince the Court about the financial capacity to give the loan to the Respondent, which created doubt. The Appellant has failed to establish the monetary transaction with the Respondent and was unable to discharge the initial burden to raise the presumption as envisaged under section 139 of N.I. Act. The trial Court is justified in acquitting the accused for the offence punishable under section 138 of N.I. Act - the Appellant has not made out grounds to interfere in the order of acquittal passed by the trial Court - The appeal filed by the appellant/complainant is dismissed.
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