Preetam Singh Rana Vs Saramma G Skariah @ Jullie — Cheque Dishonour | Delhi HC (2025)

Preetam Singh Rana Vs Saramma G Skariah @ Jullie — Cheque Dishonour | Delhi HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petition transferred to the concerned Appellate Court of Sessions to be treated as an appeal under the proviso to Section 413 of BNSS and numbered accordingly; entire case record including the requisitioned Trial Court Record to be transferred; Sessions Court requested to dispose of the matter expeditiously given its pendency; parties directed to appear before the Appellate Court of Sessions on 21st August, 2025; copy of order to the concerned Principal District and Sessions Judge for information, compliance and listing on 21st August, 2025.

Issue for consideration

Whether the Appellant — a complainant under Section 138 NI Act whose prosecution ended in acquittal — is entitled to prefer an appeal against the acquittal without leave under Section 378(4) CrPC, i.e., under the proviso to Section 413 BNSS, before the Sessions Court. +1 more

Court's answer

The Appellant, being a complainant under Section 138 of NI Act, is entitled to file an appeal against the impugned judgment of acquittal under Section 413 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (previously Section 372 of the Cr.P.C.) before the Sessions Court, without needing leave under Section 378(4) of the Cr.P.C.

Ratio / Principle

If this Court were to proceed to hear and decide the leave to appeal at this stage, it could deprive the parties of an available forum for further challenge.

Key takeaways

The present petition is directed to be transferred to the concerned Appellate Court of Sessions, to be considered as an appeal under the proviso to Section 413 of BNSS, and to be numbered accordingly.ratio¶¶20

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court order (Sanjeev Narula, J, 11.08.2025) in CRL.L.P. 246/2025: complainant Preetam Singh Rana had sought leave under S.378 CrPC to challenge the acquittal of respondent Saramma G Skariah @ Jullie under S.138 NI Act (judgment dated 5.11.2024, Civil Judge-08, Central, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, C.C. No. 6195/2019). Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran — that a S.138 complainant suffering financial loss by cheque dishonour is a 'victim' under S.2(wa) CrPC entitled to appeal against acquittal under the proviso to S.372 CrPC without leave under S.378(4) — this Court held the Appellant entitled to appeal under S.413 BNSS (previously S.372 CrPC) before the Sessions Court, and directed that the petition be transferred to the Appellate Court of Sessions and treated as such an appeal, with transfer of the entire record, a request for expedited disposal, and appearance fixed for 21.08.2025.

$~27

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

- CRL.L.P. 246/2025

PREETAM SINGH RANA .....Petitioner

Through: Mr. Praveen Chaturvedi, Ms. Jyoti Chaturvedi and Mr. Kaushik Mukherjee, Advocates.

versus

SARAMMA G SKARIAH @ JULLIE .....Respondent Through:

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA

O R D E R

% 11.08.2025

The present leave to appeal under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973⁵ assails judgment dated 5^th November, 2024 passed by Civil Judge-08, Central, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi in C.C. No. 6195/2019 titled ‘Sh. Preetam Singh Rana v. Smt. Saramma G Skariah @ Jullie’, whereby the Respondent has been acquitted of the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881⁶ .

At the outset, counsel for the Appellant seeks transfer of the present petition to the Court of Sessions and that the same be treated as an appeal, in light of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran⁷ .

In the said decision, the Supreme Court clarified the legal position

5 “Cr.P.C.”

6 “NI Act”

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/08/2025 at 12:34:03

regarding appeals against acquittals under Section 138 of NI Act and held that a complainant under Section 138, who suffers financial loss due to the dishonour of a cheque, qualifies as a ‘victim’ under Section 2(wa) of Cr.P.C. Therefore, the Court ruled that such a complainant is entitled to benefit from the proviso to Section 372 of the Cr.P.C., to prefer an appeal against acquittal without having the need to obtain leave under Section 378(4) of the Cr.P.C.

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent clarification of the legal position, it is now evident that the Appellant, being a complainant under Section 138 of NI Act, is entitled to file an appeal against the impugned judgment of acquittal under Section 413 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023⁸ (previously Section 372 of the Cr.P.C.) before the Sessions Court. If this Court were to proceed to hear and decide the leave to appeal at this stage, it could deprive the parties of an available forum for further challenge.

In light of the above, it is deemed fit to direct that the present petition be transferred to the concerned Appellate Court of Sessions and be considered as an appeal under the proviso to Section 413 of BNSS. Let the appeal be numbered accordingly.

The entire record of the present case, including the requisitioned copy of the Trial Court Record, is directed to be transferred to the concerned Appellate Court of Sessions.

Furthermore, considering that the petition has been pending for a considerable time, the concerned Sessions Court is requested to dispose of

7 2025

8 “BNSS”

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/08/2025 at 12:34:03

the matter as expeditiously as possible.

Parties are directed to appear before the Appellate Court of Sessions on 21^st August, 2025.

A copy of the order be sent to the concerned Principal District and Sessions Judge for necessary information, compliance and for listing of the matter before the concerned Appellate Court on 21^st August, 2025.

SANJEEV NARULA, J

AUGUST 11, 2025 nk

This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/08/2025 at 12:34:03