This judgment rejected an application for special leave to appeal against an order of acquittal in a cheque dishonour case, upholding the trial court's finding that the cheque was misused.
Application seeking special leave to appeal and the appeal were dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
CRM-A-349-2019
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
210
CRM-A-349-2019 Date of Decision : 14.11.2022
Rajnesh Kumar ......... Appellant
Versus
Jagat Singh
......... Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JAGMOHAN BANSAL
Present : Mr. Vishwajeet, Advocate for the appellant.
JAGMOHAN BANSAL, J. (Oral)
Seeds Company, which is a partnership firm and present appellant is one of ANJU GOEL 2022.11.15 19:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
CRM-A-349-2019
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the partners. The money was deposited in the account of Shyam Seeds Company by respondent, however, appellant during the course of proceedings before trial Court feigned his ignorance about the deposit of aforesaid amount. The appellant pleaded that a sum of Rs.1.85 lakhs was withdrawn from personal account and delivered to the respondent. There is no evidence in the form of writing disclosing lending of money by appellant to the respondent. The appellant during the course of trial pleaded that respondent had borrowed money as friendly loan and it was subject to interest @ 1.25%. The trial Court has found that as per complainant himself, the money lent was Rs.1.85 lakhs and the amount of cheque is Rs.1.85 lakhs. If the money was given as loan subject to interest @ 1.25% per month, it was not possible that amount of cheque would be same as was lent by complainant. Learned trial Court has further noticed that writing over the cheque qua signature and different columns is different. The appellant attempted to plead that there is no report of handwriting expert, however, learned trial Court has recorded a categoric finding that it was apparent that handwriting qua different columns vis-a-vis signatures over the cheque is different.
ANJU GOEL 2022.11.15 19:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
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CRM-A-349-2019
(i) An appellate court has full power to review, reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded.
(ii) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no limitation, restriction or condition on exercise of such power and an appellate court on the evidence before it may reach its own conclusion, both on questions of fact and of law.
(iii) Various expressions, such as, ‘substantial and compelling reasons’, ‘good and sufficient grounds’, ‘very strong circumstances’, ‘distorted conclusions’, ‘glaring mistakes’, etc. are not intended to curtail extensive powers of an appellate court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the nature of ‘flourishes of language’ to emphasise the reluctance of an appellate court to interfere with acquittal than to curtail the power of the court to review the evidence and to come to its own conclusion.
(iv) An appellate court, however, must bear in mind that in case of acquittal, there is double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence is available to him under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the accused having secured his
ANJU GOEL 2022.11.15 19:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
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acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is further reinforced,
reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial court .
(v) If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.
7. The appellant is seeking special leave to appeal against judgment and order whereby trial court has acquitted the respondent. It is settled law that granting of special leave to appeal against acquittal is a discretionary power. However, such power has to be exercised judiciously and the Courts are not permitted to exercise the same at whims or fancies and arbitrarily. Arbitrariness has always been held anathema to exercise of any power.
appeal is dismissed.
| 14.11.2022 | ( JAGMOHAN BANSAL ) | |
|---|---|---|
| anju | JUDGE | |
| Whether speaking/reasoned | Yes/No | |
| Whether Reportable | Yes/No |
ANJU GOEL 2022.11.15 19:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh
3 issues framed by the court
Whether special leave to appeal should be granted against the trial court's order acquitting the accused in a cheque bounce case.
Whether the appellate court can reappreciate evidence in an appeal against acquittal despite the double presumption of innocence.
Whether the impugned order of acquittal suffers from any infirmity or irregularity warranting interference.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
RAJNESH KUMAR
JAGAT SINGH
JAGMOHAN BANSAL
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
