8 years on, businesswoman acquitted in Rs 50 lakh cheque bounce case

Thane, Oct 5 (PTI) A Thane court has acquitted a businesswoman in a 2017 cheque bounce case, noting multiple inconsistencies in the complainant's version.

A copy of the order, dated October 3, was made available on Saturday.

The case, registered in August 2017 on a complaint by retired PSU employee Popatrao Bhausaheb Chaudhary, revolved around a failed property transaction and three dishonoured cheques amounting to Rs 50 lakh.

The dispute stemmed from a 2016 agreement where Chaudhary intended to purchase a shop at Kalwa in Maharashtra's Thane city from Sharmila Digamber Kapote for Rs 79 lakh.

According to the complainant, Rs 50 lakh was paid -- Rs 30 lakh in cash and Rs 20 lakh via RTGS (electronic system for transferring funds).

When the accused allegedly failed to complete the sale due to mortgage issues, a cancellation agreement was signed and three cheques were issued as a refund. All were dishonoured due to "insufficient funds", as per the complainant.

However, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Sunita P Paithankar found multiple inconsistencies in the complainant's version.

"The very foundation of an offence under Section 138 (of the Negotiable Instruments Act) is that the cheque in question must have been drawn by the accused in discharge of a legally enforceable debt or liability...unless the complainant establishes that the cheque was issued towards such subsisting debt or liability, the very edifice of prosecution crumbles," the court said.

It also noted that the complainant failed to prove the source of Rs 30 lakh cash and admitted discrepancies in the RTGS date and agreement details.

"The complainant has candidly admitted...he had no independent source of cash income...the very claim of having paid such a huge amount in cash remains bald, unsubstantiated, and contrary to normal financial prudence," the court said.

Further, the judge highlighted that the cheques were not written by the accused but by her brother, and were handed over at a police station.

"What emerges instead is a picture of cheques being filled by third parties, produced under police intervention, and surrounded by suspicious circumstances," the court said.

It also questioned the absence of a civil suit and the complainant's prior knowledge of the property's mortgage status.

"It is incomprehensible how he would part with Rs 50,00,000 in such circumstances...this admission undermines the credibility of his claim," the court said. PTI COR GK