Bounced cheque lands Baga businessman in jail
Has to also pay compensation and inerest
THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
A local Mapusa court has sentenced a businessman from Baga to two years of simple imprisonment in a cheque bouncing case.
While passing the judgement, the Mapusa JMFC Carlo Santana da Silva also ordered the accused to pay the full amount to the complainant along with 9 per cent interest from the day when the disputed cheque was issued.
Further, the court ordered the accused to pay compensation of Rs 10,000 per year to the complainant for each year of litigation, starting from Nov 25, 2008 (on which date the demand notice was issued), or in default undergo simple imprisonment for a further eight months.
According to the details of the case, the complainant, Naresh Gupta, a businessman from Canca had advanced a sum of Rs 5 lakh to the accused, Sunit Shetty, a businessman from Baga, who while returning the amount issued a cheque to Gupta dated November 1, 2008, for the said amount.
The cheque which was presented for clearing, returned unpaid with the endorsement ‘payment stopped by drawer.’ Consequently, a demand notice was issued by registered A/D post, which returned unclaimed. Despite opportunity, the accused never replied to the demand notice or paid the disputed cheque amount.
After going through the material on record, the Mapusa court found that the complainant had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed an offence under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
“The accused has not only failed to pay the disputed cheque amount or even a part of it but also attempted to take all kinds of defence, in an attempt to avoid making payment,” the Mapusa court observed.
