Man acquitted in six-year-old cheque bounce case

A Thane Magistrate court on November 29, 2016 acquitted a man charged in a six-year-old cheque bounce case after he proved that the complainant, one Awatar Singh Negi, had fraudulently obtained the cheque from his estranged wife and deposited it in the bank.

Judicial Magistrate AB Katke acquitted Dipen Nagade after it was proven that his wife had passed on a cheque for Rs 2 lakh – which he had originally given to her as a blank cheque for payment of LIC policy premium – to Nagi after she had registered a case of dowry harassment against him with the police.

Appearing for Nagade, D G Khamkar argued that the cheque was deposited by the complainant on October 18, 2010, the same day that the Nagade had lodged a complaint against his wife and requested his bank to stop payments for all cheques issued. He relied on the FIR lodged by Nagade's wife in which a statement of Negi was recorded to show their association.

Negi had claimed that he had paid Nagade Rs 2 lakh as processing fees, part-payment and bank loan charges for purchase of a car.

Since the car was not delivered on time, Nagade, after persistent demands from Negi, allegedly issued a cheque to return the said amount, but which was dishonoured by the bank.

However, it was argued that Negi had no record of whether the alleged money given was legal tender as no accounts of the transaction were maintained. The defense claimed a cheque could not be issued to compensate an amount that is unaccounted for.

The court held that "The circumstances and facts are badly damaging to the prosecution case. The complainant has not proved the existence of debt by independent positive evidence."