TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (4) TMI 1147
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....r a period of 01 year and to pay compensation to the tune of Rs. 6,80,650/- to the respondent-complainant and has further imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000/- as Court fine and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month; as well as judgment dated 16.09.2021 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Panipat, whereby the appeal of the petitioner against the said judgment of conviction and order of sentence has been dismissed. 2. The case came up for hearing on 16.11.2021, when the counsel for the petitioner conveyed his readiness to comply with the payment of compensation as well as the cheque amount. The relevant part of the order is extracted as under:- Learned counsel for the petitioner submits t....
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....d also the expenses and penalty imposed stands deposited. 6. Sh. Surinder Singh Virk, Advocate has appeared on behalf of respondent-complainant and has acknowledged receipt of the entire amount. He has further made a statement at the Bar that respondent-complainant has no objection to the offence being compounded as payment in question has already been made. 7. It has been submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that he has already deposited the amount of the cheque with the respondent-complainant, hence, the case in hand be permitted to be compounded as per Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The relevant provisions of the Act reads thus:- 147 Offences to be compoundable. -Notwithstanding anything contained in the ....
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.... view of the non-obstante clause, the provisions of Section 147 were given an overriding effect over the Code and in view of the clear mandate given to the parties to compound an offence under the Act, reference to Section 320 Cr.P.C. can be made for purposes of comparison only in order to understand the scope of Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Mr. Rohtagi submitted that the said position had been accepted by this Court in various decisions, such as in the case of O.P. Dholakia vs. State of Haryana & Anr. [(2000) 1 SCC 762], wherein it was held that since the petitioner had already entered into a compromise with the complainant and the complainant had appeared through counsel and stated that the entire money had been received....
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....as provided for under Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the conviction under Section 138 of the said Act should also be set aside. In the case of Vinay Devanna Nayak (supra), the issue was raised and after taking note of the provisions of Section 320 Cr.P.C., this Court held that since the matter had been compromised between the parties and payments had been made in full and final settlement of the dues of the Bank, the appeal deserved to be allowed and the appellant was entitled to acquittal. Consequently, the order of conviction and sentence recorded by all the courts were set aside and the appellant was acquitted of the charge leveled against him. 9. The object of Section 320 Cr.P.C., which would not in the strict sense o....
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....to the above position. 12. It is true that the application under Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act was made by the parties after the proceedings had been concluded before the Appellate Forum. However, Section 147 of the aforesaid Act does not bar the parties from compounding an offence under Section 138 even at the appellate stage of the proceedings. Accordingly, we find no reason to reject the application under Section 147 of the aforesaid Act even in a proceeding under Article 136 of the Constitution. 10. Reference can also be made to the judgments in the matter of Chochin Hotels Co.(P) Ltd & Ors Vs. Kairali Granites & Ors, 2006 (2) RCR (Criminal) 333, and K. Subramanian Vs. R. Rajathi represented by PAOP Kalippan, 2010 (....