Gujarat High Court
Govindbhai Lakhubhai Patel (Gothi) vs State Of Gujarat on 27 January, 2026
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.A/1570/2012 ORDER DATED: 27/01/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1570 of 2012
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GOVINDBHAI LAKHUBHAI PATEL (GOTHI)
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
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Appearance:
MR JIGAR G GADHAVI(5613) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR N P CHAUDHARY(3980) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 2
MR TUSHAR CHAUDHARY(5316) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 2
MS MEGHA CHITALIYA, APP for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 1
RULE SERVED for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 2
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE SANJEEV J.THAKER
Date : 27/01/2026
ORAL ORDER
1. This is an acquittal appeal filed under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as `the Code' for short) by the complainant against the judgment and order impugned passed by the learned trial Court, whereby the learned trial Court had acquitted the respondent/s/accused of the charge under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (hereinafter referred to as the `NI Act' for short).
2. Heard learned advocates for the parties. Learned APP has submitted that this matter is required to be transferred in view of the recent decision of this Court passed in Criminal Miscellaneous Application Nos. 12753 of 2019 with 12908 of 2019.
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NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1570/2012 ORDER DATED: 27/01/2026 undefined
3. Before entering into the merits of this case, this Court deems it proper to refer to the latest decision rendered by this Court in the case of Shivsinh Ganpatsinh Solanki V/s State of Gujarat & Anr. being Criminal Miscellaneous Application Nos. 12753 of 2019 with 12908 of 2019 on 23.12.2025, wherein, after considering the various judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, more particularly, the judgment in the matter of M/s Celestium Financial V/s A.Gyanasekaran etc. reported in 2025 INSC 804, has observed and held that the Complainant, in a complaint under Section 138 of the N.I. Act, being a Victim, has a specific right to appeal under proviso of Section 372 of the Code to the Court which is immediately superior in hierarchy i.e., the Sessions Court. Therefore, the applications for leave to appeal/appeals which are pending before this Court can be disposed of with a direction to transfer the said application/appeal to the concerned Sessions Court.
4. In view of the above, learned advocate for the petitioner requested to transfer the appeal to the concerned Sessions Court.
5. In view of the said request, this appeal is disposed of with a direction to the Registry to transfer the Page 2 of 3 Uploaded by U. SRILATHA(HC00185) on Tue Jan 27 2026 Downloaded on : Tue Feb 03 21:12:52 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1570/2012 ORDER DATED: 27/01/2026 undefined appeal to the concerned Sessions Court. After it is transferred to the concerned Sessions Court, it has to be treated as an Appeal under the proviso under Section 372 of the Code (Section 413 of BNSS) and numbered accordingly. The Registry is directed to transfer the entire record of the case, including the certified copies of the order impugned and record & proceedings, if lying with this Court, to the concerned lower Appellate Court, forthwith.
6. Considering that the matter has been pending since the year 2012, the learned lower Appellate Court is required to make endeavour to dispose of the matter as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of six months from the date of receipt of the matter.
7. It is clarified that this Court has not gone into the merits of the matter at this stage.
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