High court upholds 6-month jail term in cheque bounce case

Time of India

15 hours ago

Chennai: Noting that a borrower cannot evade repayment merely on the ground that the loan amount was unaccounted for in the lender's income tax returns,
Madras high court
upheld the conviction of a man in a cheque bounce case.
Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan dismissed a revision petition filed by E Dhatchinamoorthy, who challenged his conviction under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
The prosecution said, Dhatchinamoorthy borrowed 3 lakh from complainant S Seenuvasan and issued a cheque towards repayment. The cheque was returned dishonoured for 'funds insufficient'. Despite a statutory notice, he failed to repay.
The Tindivanam judicial magistrate sentenced him to six months of simple imprisonment and directed him to pay compensation equal to the cheque amount.
The conviction was later confirmed by the II additional district judge, Tindivanam, in appeal.
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Before the HC, the petitioner argued that the loan was not accounted for in the complainant's tax returns and hence could not be considered a legally enforceable debt. He also questioned the admissibility of a photocopy of the cheque marked before the trial court.
The court noted that the borrower admitted to taking the money and issuing the cheque. "Whether the loan amount is accounted or not is not the concern of the borrower. Once the money is borrowed, it has to be repaid," Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan said. Holding that both the trial and appellate courts rightly convicted him, the HC said the conviction 'does not require any interference' and dismissed the revision.
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