Bihar court awards Rs 1.50 cr fine in Rs 1.25 cr cheque bounce case

New Delhi: In landmark verdict in a case related to cheque dishonour, a district court in Bihar has awarded Rs 1.50 crore fine to an accused in a case involving dishonour of a cheque worth Rs 1.25-crore or two-year imprisonment if the accused fail to pay the fine in five months.

The important verdict has come from a court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM-7) in Bihar’s Aurangabad that has awarded a fine of Rs 1.50 crore to former president of the primary agriculture credit society (PACS) Sunil Kumar Yadav in the Rs 1.25 crore cheque dishonour case.

As per the verdict, the ingredients of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act have been established by the complainant and the accused has failed to rebut the statutory presumption as contemplated under the Act.

The court of ACJM Madhvi Singh also ordered a two-year imprisonment upon failing to pay the fine. “As such, in my considered opinion, the accused has committed an offence under Section 138 read with Section 142 of the NI Act and shall be punished for the same,” the court order stated. “The court imposes a fine of 1,50,50000 crore on Sunil Kumar Yadav, to be paid in five months, failing which he has to serve two-year simple imprisonment,” the court said.