Appellate deposit of compensation under the NI Act was valid, and Section 362 CrPC did not bar the direction.

Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act permits an appellate court to direct deposit of a minimum percentage of the fine or compensation awarded by the trial court during the pendency of an appeal. Where the conviction under Section 138 included payment of the cheque amount as compensation, that direction could be enforced pending appeal. The earlier order suspending sentence did not finally dispose of the appeal, so a later deposit direction was not a barred review or alteration under Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The challenge to the deposit order therefore failed.

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Issues: Whether the appellate court could direct deposit of 25% of the compensation amount under Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 during the pendency of the appeal, and whether such direction was barred by Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The conviction under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 included a direction to pay the cheque amount, which was treated as compensation for the purpose of Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Section 148 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 empowers the appellate court to order deposit of a minimum percentage of the fine or compensation awarded by the trial court. The earlier appellate order suspending sentence was not a final disposal of the appeal, so the subsequent direction requiring deposit did not amount to a prohibited review or alteration within the meaning of Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Conclusion: The direction to deposit 25% of the compensation amount was valid and the bar under Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 did not apply; the challenge failed.

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