Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Section 138—Conviction—Compromise between parties—Setting aside of conviction—Held: Petitioner convicted and sentenced under S. 138 NI Act and appeal dismissed—Subsequently, parties entered into compromise and complainant received entire compensation and expressed no desire to pursue proceedings—In view of settlement, judgment of conviction and sentence set aside—Petitioner acquitted subject to condition of depositing 10% of cheque amount with H.P. Legal Services Authority within stipulated time—Failure to comply to render order ineffective and petitioner liable to undergo sentence—Revision allowed and petitioner directed to be released forthwith unless required in any other case. (Paras 5 to 11) ...

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Sections 138 and 147—Dishonour of cheque—Conviction—Compounding of offence—Litigation cost and compounding fee—Held: Accused convicted under S. 138 NI Act for dishonour of cheque—During pendency of proceedings, entire compensation paid and complainant expressed no objection—Offence permitted to be compounded under S. 147 even after conviction in view of principles laid down in Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Babalal H.—Impugned judgments of conviction and sentence set aside and accused acquitted—Accused directed to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation cost to complainant and Rs 5,000 as compounding fee to Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority within stipulated time. (Paras 7 and 8) ...

A. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Sections 138, 118 and 139—Dishonour of cheque (“payment stopped by drawer”)—Presumption—Rebuttal—Held: Once issuance of cheque is admitted, statutory presumption arises that it was issued in discharge of legally enforceable debt or liability—Accused must rebut presumption by leading cogent evidence—Mere denial in statement under Section 313 CrPC insufficient—Where accused admitted issuance, dishonour and receipt of notice, and failed to rebut presumption, offence under S. 138 made out and conviction justified. (Paras 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 33 to 35) B. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Section 138—Compensation—Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 313—Quantum and principles—Held: Admission in statement under S...

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Sections 138 and 147—Dishonour of cheque—Conviction—Compromise during revision—Compounding of offence—Held: Petitioner convicted by Trial Court and conviction affirmed in appeal for offence under S. 138 NI Act—During pendency of criminal revision, parties entered into compromise and complainant agreed to accept deposited amount and raised no objection—In exercise of power under S. 147, offence can be compounded even after conviction in view of law laid down in Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Babalal H.—Accordingly, conviction and sentence set aside and petitioner acquitted—Accused directed to deposit Rs 5,000 as compounding fee with H.P. State Legal Services Authority, failing which liable for penal consequences including contempt. (Paras 5 to 9) ...

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881—Sections 138 and 147—Compounding of offence—Conviction set aside on compromise—Held: Accused convicted under S. 138 NI Act by Trial Court and conviction upheld in appeal—During pendency of revision, parties entered into compromise and amount paid by accused under One Time Settlement Scheme—Complainant-Bank expressed no objection to compounding—In exercise of power under S. 147 NI Act and in terms of Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Babalal H., offence can be compounded even after conviction—Accordingly, judgments of conviction and sentence set aside and accused acquitted—Accused directed to pay litigation cost of Rs 5,000 to complainant and Rs 5,000 as compounding fee to State Legal Services Authority within stipulated time. (Paras 5 to 10) ...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482 and Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005—Sections 20(6) and 31—Quashing of proceedings—Compromise—FIR alleging domestic violence and harassment—Parties entered into amicable settlement—Held, where offences are personal in nature and do not involve serious or heinous crimes, High Court may exercise inherent powers to quash proceedings—Continuation of proceedings would amount to abuse of process. [Paras 6, 8, 11] B. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482—Quashing on basis of compromise—Guidelines—Principles laid down in Narinder Singh v. State of Punjab reiterated—Power to quash to be exercised sparingly and with caution—Permissible in cases having predominantly civil or matrimonial flavour&m...

A. Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Section 96—Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958—Section 50—Tenancy—Burden of proof—Burden to prove existence of landlord-tenant relationship lies on the person asserting tenancy—Mere plea of oral tenancy without documentary or reliable oral evidence is insufficient—Proceedings under rent deposit provisions do not establish tenancy—Failure to discharge burden results in treating occupant as unauthorized/trespasser. [Paras 19, 20] B. Specific Relief Act, 1963—Section 5—Code of Civil Procedure, 1908—Section 96—Recovery of possession—Trespasser—Where plaintiff establishes ownership and defendant fails to prove lawful possession, decree for recovery of possession and injunction is justified—Unauthorized occupation am...

A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 447—Criminal trespass—Acquittal upheld—Prosecution must prove intent to insult, intimidate, or annoy the person in possession of the land—Mere possession, even if illegal, is insufficient to constitute criminal trespass—Demarcation conducted in absence of the accused and without following proper procedure held inadmissible—Complaint lacking averments regarding requisite intent—Essential ingredients of Section 447 IPC not satisfied. [Paras 6, 19, 22, 24] B. Indian Forest Act, 1927—Sections 26, 4—Prosecution for acts in reserved forest—Acquittal upheld—No evidence produced to show notification declaring the land as reserved forest—Notification relied upon did not specify relevant Khasra numbers—Mandatory requirements of ...

A. Indian Penal Code, 1860—Section 447—Criminal trespass—Mere possession of Government land without intent to insult, intimidate, or annoy does not constitute criminal trespass—Complaint failing to specifically aver such intent—Essential ingredients of Section 447 IPC not satisfied. [Paras 6, 17, 19] B. Indian Forest Act, 1927—Sections 29, 30, 31, 33—Encroachment of Government land—Encroachment below 10 bighas—As per precedent, FIR not lodgable—Notification declaring reserved/protected forest and its publication in vernacular language mandatory to attract penal consequences under Section 33—Failure to prove such publication renders prosecution unsustainable. [Paras 15, 20, 21, 23] C. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 437A—Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanh...

A. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482 (now Section 528, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023)—Quashing of FIR—Matrimonial dispute—FIR under Sections 498-A, 504, 506 and 34 IPC—Parties entered into compromise and obtained divorce by mutual consent—Held, where dispute is predominantly matrimonial and parties have settled amicably, continuation of criminal proceedings would be futile—Possibility of conviction remote—FIR liable to be quashed. [Paras 3–13] B. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 482 (now Section 528, BNSS, 2023)—Scope of inherent powers—Principles laid down in Narinder Singh v. State of Punjab, Gian Singh v. State of Punjab and Dimpey Gujral v. UT Chandigarh reiterated—Inherent power distinct from compounding of offences—To ...