Crl. Revision No.944 of 2002 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Revision No.944 of 2002 Date of decision : 26.03.2010 Avtar Singh .... Petitioner VERSUS State of Punjab and another ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA Present: Ms. Puja Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. Mehardeep Singh, DAG, Punjab. KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA, J. (Oral) Avtar Singh son of Kapur Singh was held guilty by the Court of JMIC, Patiala vide its judgment dated 14.3.2001 of offence under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act in the complaint filed by respondent – M/s Modern Financers and was sentenced to undergo RI for six months and to pay a fine in the sum of Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo RI for 15 days. Aggrieved against the judgment and order dated 14.3.2001, the petitioner filed an appeal but the same was also dismissed. Respondent - M/s Modern Financers in its complaint alleged that petitioner had taken a loan of Rs.50,000/- and had issued a cheque on 14.5.1999 amounting to Rs.68,000/-. Complainant had presented the cheque but the same was not encahsed and was returned by the banker with the remarks “insufficient funds”. Complainant himself appeared as PW-1 and examined Kuldip Singh, Officer of Punjab and Sind Bank as PW-2 and closed its evidence. Crl. Revision No.944 of 2002 -2- Ms. Puja Chopra, Advocate has stated that in view of the findings recorded by both the Courts below, she is not in a position to assail the conviction. However, she has referred to the statement of the accused, under Section 313 Cr.P.C., dated 22.07.2000, to show that at the time when the cheque was issued, petitioner was aged about 53 years and now he is aged 63 years. She further stated that petitioner was taken into custody on 8.04.2002 and was ordered to be released on bail by this Court on 31.05.2002, but he came out of the jail after 2-3 days more. Hence, it is submitted that petitioner has undergone about 2 months of actual sentence out of 6 months. The cheque in question was issued in May 1999. Petitioner has already suffered a mental pain and agony of protracted trial for about 11 years. Under these mitigating circumstances, this Court is of the view that sending the petitioner behind the bar may not serve any purpose. Therefore, sentence of imprisonment of the petitioner is reduced to the period already undergone. However, sentence of fine is enhanced to Rs.10,000/-. The fine shall be deposited by the petitioner within three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of the order. The fine, so deposited, shall be disbursed to the complainant. In case, fine is not deposited, no benefit of reduction of sentence shall accrue to the petitioner. Revision petition is disposed of. (KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA) 26-03-2010 JUDGE manju