Jayant Kumar Chauhan vs State Of Jharkhand

Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, J

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that so far as defect no.40 is concerned, that has occurred inadvertently and separate affidavit has been sworn by the Pairvikar and in view of that the said affidavit may kindly be taken on record as the matter is already on board.

In view of his such submission, the said affidavit is taken on record.

Defect no.40 is ignored.

I.A. No.15113 of 2025

I.A. No.15113 of 2025 has been filed for condonation of delay of 291 days in filing the present criminal revision petition.

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that in arranging the file and filing the matter, such delay has occurred and in view of that, the delay may kindly be condoned.

Learned counsel appearing for the State and opposite party no.2 have got no serious objection if the delay is condoned.

Considering that the matter can be compounded and it has been pointed out during the course of argument that the matter has already been compromised between the parties, the delay of 291 days in filing the present criminal revision petition is, hereby, condoned.

Accordingly, I.A. No.15113 of 2025 is allowed and disposed of.

Criminal Revision Filing No. 20266 of 2025

Heard Mr. Sidhartha Roy, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, Mr. Azeemuddin, learned counsel appearing for the State and Mr. Abhishek Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the complainant/opposite party no.2.

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that this criminal revision petition has been filed against the judgment dated 31.07.2024 passed by the learned Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi in Criminal Appeal No.78 of 2024 affirming the judgment of conviction and the order of sentence dated 20. 02.2024 passed by the learned J.M.F.C., Ranchi in Complaint Case No.1554 of 2017, whereby, the petitioner has been convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act and he has been sentenced to undergo S.I. for one year along with fine of Rs.5,50,000/- as compensation under Section 357(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and in default of payment of fine, further direction is there to undergo S.I. for 6 months. He further submits that now a good sense has prevailed between the parties and both the parties have compromised the matter and the entire awarded amount of Rs.5,50,000/- has already been paid by the petitioner to the complainant. He next submits that the joint compromise petition has been filed in the form of I.A. No.12238 of 2025. He then submits that the said I.A. is filed on separate affidavit on behalf of both the sides. He also submits that in light of Section 147 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, the matter can be compounded. He submits that in view of that, this matter may kindly be disposed of.

Learned counsel appearing for the State submits that the matter is arising under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act and in view of the said I.A., it transpires that the compromise is there between the parties.

Learned counsel appearing for the complainant/opposite party no.2 accepts the said submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner. He further submits that the said joint compromise petition is affidavited separately by both the sides. He next submits that the entire awarded compensation amount of Rs.5,50,000/- 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.

In view of the above, it transpires that 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.

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 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)

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.”

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 awarded amount of compensation of Rs.5,50,000/- 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.

Accordingly, I.A. No.12238 of 2025 is disposed of.

Considering the totality of the circumstances and compromise between the parties and the petitioner has already paid entire awarded compromise amount to the complainant, this criminal revision petition is allowed and the judgment dated 31.07.2024 passed by the learned Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi in Criminal Appeal No.78 of 2024 and the judgment of conviction and the order of sentence dated 20.02.2024 passed by the learned J.M.F.C., Ranchi in Complaint Case No.1554 of 2017 are, hereby, set-aside.

In view of the above, the petitioner is, hereby, exempted from surrender before the learned Court and the surety is, hereby, discharged.

I.A. No.12236 of 2025 is, therefore, disposed of.

Accordingly, this criminal revision petition is allowed and disposed of.