Disposed

Devi Ram v. Ram Niwas

Delhi HC23 Jul 2025CRL.L.P./577/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Delhi High Court relied on the Supreme Court in Celestium Financial to hold that a cheque complainant is a victim entitled to appeal under Section 372 CrPC. The court disposed of the leave to appeal, directing transfer of the record to the Court of Sessions as an appeal.

What did the court decide?

Petition treated as appeal under proviso to Section 372 CrPC; record transferred to Court of Sessions.

Devi Ram Vs Ram Niwas — Cheque Dishonour | Delhi HC (2025)

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$~21

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + CRL.L.P. 577/2022 DEVI RAM .....Petitioner Through: Ms. Runjhun Garg, Adv. (through VC) versus RAM NIWAS .....Respondent Through: Mr. Gurbaksh Singh, Adv. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN O R D E R % 23.07.2025

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The present leave to appeal is filed under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (‘ CrPC ’) against the judgement dated 29.07.2022, passed by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate (‘ MM ’), New Delhi district, Rouse Avenue Court Complex, whereby the respondent was acquitted of the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (‘ NI Act ’) in Ct Case 8282/2019.

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At the outset, the learned counsel for the petitioner states that in view of the judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran : 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1320 , the petitioner being a victim is entitled to file an appeal against the judgment of acquittal and is not required to seek leave to appeal. She submits that the present petition be transferred to the learned Court of Sessions to be treated as an appeal.

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The Hon’ble Apex Court in the recent decision in Celestium Financial v. A. Gnanasekaran ( supra ) has opined that a complainant who prefers a complaint under Section 138 of the NI Act is an aggrieved party who suffers economic loss due to the dishonour of cheque, and such a complainant qualifies as a victim within the meaning of Section 2(wa) of the CrPC.

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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 31/07/2025 at 12:25:43

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Consequently, it was held that such a complainant is entitled to the benefit of the proviso of Section 372 of the CrPC, enabling them to maintain an appeal against an order of acquittal without seeking leave to appeal under Section 378(4) of the CrPC.

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The petitioner was the complainant in the complaint preferred under Section 138 of the NI Act, and is thus entitled to maintain an appeal under Section 372 of the CrPC. 5. In terms of the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC, an appeal by a victim against the judgment of acquittal passed by the learned MM will have to be heard by the learned Court of Sessions. If the petition is allowed to continue before this Court, the parties will stand to lose a forum of challenge. 6. In view of the above, the present matter is disposed of with direction that the present petition be treated as an appeal under the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC and numbered accordingly. 7. The Registry is directed to transfer entire record of the case, including the requisitioned copy of TCR, to the concerned appellate Court of Sessions. 8. The order be communicated to the concerned Principal District & Sessions Judge for compliance and listing before the concerned Appellate Court on 27.08.2025. 9. The parties are directed to appear before the learned Appellate Court on 27.08.2025. 10. Considering that the matter has been pending before this Court since the year 2022, the learned Sessions Court is requested to dispose of the matter expeditiously.

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AMIT MAHAJAN, J

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JULY 23, 2025/ “SS”

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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 31/07/2025 at 12:25:43

Devi Ram v. Ram Niwas

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Devi Ram v. Ram Niwas

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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