NEUTRAL CITATION
R/SCR.A/14586/2023 ORDER DATED: 06/11/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (QUASHING) NO. 14586 of 2023
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NATVARLAL JIVABHAI PATEL
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
MR. MAULIK M SONI(7249) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR DHAWAN JAYSWAL, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI
Date : 06/11/2023
ORAL ORDER
At the request of learned advocate for the petitioner, the matter is pre-poned and listed on board today.
Learned advocate Mr. V.K.Rana states that he has instructions to appear on behalf of the original complainant, and thereby, seeks permission to file his Vakalatnama, which is granted. The original complainant is present in the Court and is identified by his learned advocate.
[1] Rule. Learned advocates waives service of rule for the respective respondents.
[2] By this application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioner has sought quashing of the judgment and order dated 01.09.2023, passed by the learned JMFC, Talod at Page 1 of 3 Downloaded on : Mon Nov 06 20:49:19 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/14586/2023 ORDER DATED: 06/11/2023 undefined Sabarkantha in Criminal Case No.522 of 2022, by which the petitioner has been convicted and ordered to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay the amount of Rs.3,00,000/- towards compensation to the complainant and in default of payment of the said amount, the petitioner to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of six months and as the petitioner was not present when the judgment was pronounced, the learned Magistrate issued Non-bailable warrant under Section 70 of the Cr.P.C. against the petitioner.
[3] It appears that the settlement has been arrived at between the complainant and present petitioner and the entire cheque amount has been paid to the respondent complainant, which has been confirmed by the complainant by detailed affidavit, which is produced on record separately, the same is taken on record. The complainant do not wish to proceed further and is willing to compound the offence. Accordingly, the petitioner by filing this petition, seeks compounding of the offence under Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
[4] The petitioner also submits that the petitioner is willing to deposit costs as directed by the Supreme Court in case of Damodar S. Prabhu Vs. Sayed Babalal H., reported in (2010) 5 SCC 633, with the Legal Service Authority.
[5] In case of Kripalsingh Pratapsingh Vs. Salvinder Kaur Hardisingh Lohana, reported in (2004) 2 GLH 544, the Coordinate Bench of this Court after considering various decisions of the Apex Court, took a view that it would be Page 2 of 3 Downloaded on : Mon Nov 06 20:49:19 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/14586/2023 ORDER DATED: 06/11/2023 undefined permissible for the High Court in exercise of its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code, to record the settlement arrived at between the parties and acquit the accused of the charges.
[6] Thus, taking into account the fact of settlement, the compounding of the offence is hereby permitted.
[7] As a result, the petition is allowed. The judgment and order dated 01.09.2023, passed by the learned JMFC, Talod at Sabarkantha in Criminal Case No.522 of 2022 and warrant issued by it are hereby quashed and set aside. The petitioner is acquitted of the offences under the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The petitioner is directed to deposit amount of Rs.22,500/- with the Gujarat State Legal Service Authority as compounding charge within a period of one week from the date of receipt of this order. Receipt of deposit of amount shall be placed on record. Rule is made absolute to aforesaid extent. Direct service permitted.
(J. C. DOSHI,J) SATISH Page 3 of 3 Downloaded on : Mon Nov 06 20:49:19 IST 2023