Gopi. J Vs Venkatesh. K — Cheque Dishonour | Karnataka HC (2026)

Gopi. J Vs Venkatesh. K — Cheque Dishonour | Karnataka HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

No relief to the petitioner; revision petition dismissed with exemplary cost of Rs.1,00,000/- payable at the Registry within two weeks, failing which the matter to be listed on 06.08.2026 to enforce payment of costs.

Issue for consideration

Whether the criminal revision petition against the concurrent findings of conviction under Section 138 NI Act should be entertained when the petitioner has not complied with the conditional order dated 15.05.2025 requiring deposit of 50% of the fine amount, and instead of complying is arguing the matter as a criminal appeal. +1 more

Court's answer

The conditional order dated 15.05.2025 (suspension of sentence subject to deposit of 50% of the fine amount within six weeks) was not complied with by the revision petitioner till the date of this order.

Ratio / Principle

False defences were taken before the Trial Court by the revision petitioner denying Exs.P.1, P.2 and P.3; the documents were sent to a handwriting expert, whose opinion was that all the signatures in Exs.P.1, P.2 and P.3, including the cheque and the agreement, belong to the revision petitioner, and the FSL report also went against the petitioner. The agreement Ex.P.2 denied by the petitioner was proved to have been executed by him.

Key takeaways

The scope of revision is very limited; the Court has to take note of any miscarriage of justice in considering the material on record, and does not hear the matter as a criminal appeal.ratio¶27
The Trial Court answered each defence of the revision petitioner in detail, considering all the defences separately; filing the present revision petition without complying with the order of this Court is nothing but an abuse of process.ratio¶36
In view of the non-compliance with the conditional order, the false defences conclusively negatived by expert opinion, and the abuse of process, the revision petition is dismissed with exemplary cost of Rs.1,00,000/- payable at the Registry within two weeks; if not paid, the matter is to be listed on 06.08.2026 to enforce payment of costs.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Criminal Revision Petition (CRL.RP No. 539 of 2025) under Sections 397 r/w 401 Cr.P.C. against concurrent findings of conviction under Section 138 of the NI Act — trial court conviction dated 01.03.2023 in C.C.No.59240/2018 (XIV Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Mayohall, Bengaluru) affirmed by the LXXIII Addl. City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bengaluru (CCH-73) on 13.01.2025 in Crl.Appeal No.25092/2023. By order dated 15.05.2025 this Court had suspended sentence subject to deposit of 50% of the fine amount within six weeks; the condition was never complied with. The Court observed that the petitioner took false defences before the Trial Court denying Exs.P.1, P.2 and P.3; the handwriting expert opined that all signatures on the cheque and agreement belonged to the petitioner, the FSL report went against him, and the agreement Ex.P.2 he denied stood proved as executed by him. Noting that the scope of revision is very limited, that the Trial Court had answered each defence in detail, and that pursuing the revision without complying with the conditional order was an abuse of process, the Single Judge (H.P. Sandesh, J.) dismissed the revision petition with exemplary cost of Rs.1,00,000/- payable at the Registry within two weeks, directing that the matter be listed on 06.08.2026 to enforce payment if the cost was not paid.