TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2008 (8) TMI 934
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....ubramanyam (father of the respondent) and Defendant No. 1 (Appellant No. 1 herein) were good friends. Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 had been carrying on business. They approached the plaintiff through Shri K. Balasubramanyam for financial assistance and obtained a loan of Rs. 2,00,000/- (Rs.1,00,000/- on 15.03.2001 and Rs. 1,00,000/- on 25.03.2001). Two promissory notes were also executed therefor. 4. Defendants - Appellants purported to be in discharge of the said debt issued two cheques bearing Nos. 3960 dated 15.03.2003 and 3959 dated 31.05.2003 drawn on Bank of India, which on presentation, were returned dishonoured. Indisputably, a complaint under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 read with Sections 138 and 142 of the Neg....
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....e principal contention raised herein is that the Trial Court and consequently the High Court committed a serious error in decreeing the suit in its entirety, i.e., for a sum of Rs. 3,09,000/- with interest without taking into consideration the fact that an amount of Rs. 2,10,000/- had already been deposited by the appellants in the said criminal proceedings. 8. Contention of the respondent, however, is that as the said question was not and could not have been raised before the Trial Court, the impugned judgment is sustainable. It was furthermore urged that in view of the well-settled principle of law that pendency of a criminal matter would not be an impediment in proceeding with a civil suit, the impugned judgment should not be interfer....
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.... of the Court, recoverable by a person in a Civil Court. It is, therefore, evident that the amount of compensation could have been directed to be paid by the criminal court as the same was recoverable by the respondent as against the appellants in a civil court also. Such an order can also be passed by the Appellate Court or by the High Court or by the Court of Sessions when exercising its power of revision. 12. Sub-section (5) of Section 357 of the Code, which is relevant for our purpose, reads as under: "357. Order to pay compensation - (5) At the time of awarding compensation in any subsequent civil suit relating to the same matter, the Court shall take into account any sum paid or recovered as compensation under this sect....
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....pose of imposition of fine and/or grant of compensation to a great extent must be considered having the relevant factors therefor in mind. It may be compensating the person in one way or the other. The amount of compensation sought to be imposed, thus, must be reasonable and not arbitrary. Before issuing a direction to pay compensation, the capacity of the accused to pay the same must be judged. A fortiori, an enquiry in this behalf even in a summary way, may be necessary. Some reasons, which may not be very elaborate, may also have to be assigned; the purpose being that whereas the power to impose fine is limited and direction to pay compensation can be made for one or the other factors enumerated out of the same; but sub-section (3) of Se....
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....construction. It was opined that compensation directed to be paid should be a reasonable one. 15. In New India Assurance Co. v. Nusli Neville Wadia and Anr. [2007 (14) SCALE 556], it was held: "50. Except in the first category of cases, as has been noticed by us hereinbefore, Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, in our opinion, may have to be construed differently in view of the decisions rendered by this Court. If the landlord being a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India is required to prove fairness and reasonableness on its part in initiating a proceeding, it is for it to show how its prayer meets the constitutional requirements of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. For proper interpretation not o....
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....nd, the interpreter should accept the non-rebuttable presumption that members of the legislative body sought to fulfill their constitutional duties in good faith. This formulation allows the interpreter to inquire not into the subjective intent of the author, but rather the intent the author would have had, had he or she acted reasonably." 16. Submission of the learned counsel for the respondent that the said question was not raised before the learned Trial Judge or before the High Court is of no moment. Sub-section (5) of Section 357 of the Code casts a duty upon the court. It was for the Trial Court/High Court to take the same into consideration. Such consideration was required to be bestowed despite the fact that the said provision wa....