[Cites 8, Cited by 0]
Jharkhand High Court
Kailash Kumar Gupta vs The State Of Jharkhand on 16 December, 2025
Author: Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi
Bench: Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi
( 2025:JHHC:37727 )
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
Criminal Revision No. 1447 of 2023
Kailash Kumar Gupta, aged about 58 years, son of Satya Narayan
Agarwal, resident of 4/1, Ajanta Block, Near Ankur Flat, Aastha Hi-Tech
City, Sonari, P.O. & P.S. Sonari, District- East Singhbhum
... Petitioner
-Versus-
1. The State of Jharkhand
2. Bipin Tanna, son of B.B. Tanna, resident of House No.69, Rani Kudar,
P.O. & P.S. Kadma, Jamshedpur, District- East Singhbhum
... Opposite Parties
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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR DWIVEDI
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For the Petitioner : Ms. Trishna Sagar, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Naveen Kumar Gaunjhu, A.P.P.
For O.P. No.2 : Mr. Gautam Kumar Pandey, Advocate
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08/16.12.2025 Heard Ms. Trishna Sagar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner,
Mr. Naveen Kumar Gaunjhu, learned counsel appearing for the State and
Mr. Gautam Kumar Pandey, learned counsel appearing for opposite party no.2.
2. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that this criminal
revision petition has been filed for setting-aside the judgment dated
04.08.2023 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, East Singhbhum in
Criminal Appeal No.79 of 2023 affirming the judgment of conviction and the
order of sentence, both dated 06.04.2023 passed by the learned Judicial
Magistrate, 1st Class, Jamshedpur in C/1 Case No.2058 of 2019, whereby, the
petitioner has been convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument
Act and he has been sentenced to undergo S.I. for 8 months with fine of
Rs.1,000/- and to pay a sum of Rs.2,50,000/- by way of compensation to the
complainant and in default of payment of fine, further direction is there to
undergo S.I. for 10 days. She further submits that now a good sense has
prevailed between the parties and both have compromised the matter and in
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light of the settlement, the amount to the tune of Rs.1,70,000/- has been
settled and the said amount has already been paid to the complainant by the
petitioner, which has been disclosed in the joint compromise petition filed in
the form of I.A. No.9210 of 2024. She then submits that the said I.A. is filed
on separate affidavit on behalf of both the sides.
3. Learned counsel appearing for the State submits that the matter is
arising under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act.
4. Learned counsel appearing for the complainant/opposite party no.2
accepts the said submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner. He next
submits that the compromise has taken place and sum of Rs.1,70,000/- has
already been received by the complainant and the complainant does not want
to proceed further in the matter. He submits that in view of that, this matter
can be disposed of.
5. The matter is arising under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument
Act, which is compoundable under Section 147 of the Negotiable Instrument
Act and both the parties have compromised the matter.
6. When the parties have compromised the matter and the Court is
satisfied regarding the genuineness of the settlement, the conviction of the
accused would not serve any purpose and it is required to be set-aside. A
Reference may be made to the judgment passed by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court in the case of New Win Export and another v. A. Subramaniam,
reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1741. Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the said
judgment read as under:
"6. At this juncture, we would also like to reiterate a few
words regarding the principles of compounding of offences in
the context of NI Act. It is to be remembered that dishonour
of cheques is a regulatory offence which was made an
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offence only in view of public 4interest so that the reliability
of these instruments can be ensured. A large number of cases
involving dishonour of cheques are pending before courts
which is a serious concern for our judicial system. Keeping in
mind that the 'compensatory aspect' of remedy shall have
priority over the 'punitive aspect', courts should encourage
compounding of offences under the NI Act if parties are
willing to do so. (See: Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Babalal
H. (2010) 5 SCC 6631, Gimpex Private Limited v. Manoj Goel
(2022) 11 SCC 7052, Meters And Instruments Private Limited
And Anr. v. Kanchan Mehta (2018) 1 SCC 5603)
7. In Raj Reddy Kallem v. The State of Haryana &
Anr. [2024] 5 S.C.R 203, this Court followed the same
principles and quashed a conviction under the NI Act, by
invoking its powers under Article 142, even though the
complainant therein declined to give consent for
compounding, observing that the accused has sufficiently
compensated the complainant."
7. In view of the above and considering the prayer made in the petition
and further, the matter is arising under Section 138 of the Negotiable
Instrument Act and it is compoundable in light of Section 147 of the
Negotiable Instrument Act and both the parties have compromised the matter
and the settled amount of Rs.1,70,000/- has already been paid by the
petitioner to the complainant/opposite party no.2 and in view of that, the
joint compromise petition is allowed and the case is allowed to be
compounded between the parties.
8. Accordingly, I.A. No.9210 of 2024 is disposed of.
9. Considering the totality of the circumstances and compromise between
the parties and the petitioner has already paid settled compromise amount to
the complainant, this criminal revision petition is allowed and the judgment
dated 04.08.2023 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, East Singhbhum in
Criminal Appeal No.79 of 2023 and the judgment of conviction and the order
of sentence, both dated 06.04.2023 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate,
1st Class, Jamshedpur in C/1 Case No.2058 of 2019 are, hereby, set-aside.
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10. In view of the above, the petitioner is, hereby, exempted from
surrender before the learned Court and the surety is, hereby, discharged.
11. I.A. No.6006 of 2024 is, therefore, disposed of.
12. Accordingly, this criminal revision petition is allowed and disposed of.
(Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, J.)
Dated: 16th December, 2025
Ajay/
Uploaded on
17/12/2025
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