Disposed¶24

Amanpreet Kaur v. Bakhsish Singh and Another

Punjab & Haryana HC10 Sept 2025CRM-A/759/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

CRM-A-759-2025; S.138 NI Act acquittal appeal by complainant; special leave S.378(4) Cr.P.C. vs proviso S.372 Cr.P.C./S.413 BNSS; complainant as 'victim' (Cr.P.C. 1973/BNSS 2023); Celestium Financial 2025 INSC 804; Raj Kumar CRM-A-826-2025 2025:PHHC:079740; appeal remitted/relegated to Sessions Judge Amritsar; merits left open; Sumeet Goel J; 10.09.2025.

What did the court decide?

Appeal alongwith accompanying application(s) disposed of by remitting the same to the learned Sessions Judge, Amritsar, to be treated as filed under Section 372 of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 413 of BNSS, 2023; Sessions Judge free to retain or assign the appeal to a competent Court; Registry directed to send complete records (including paper-book) expeditiously; merits expressly left open. ¶24

Amanpreet Kaur Vs Bakhsish Singh and Another — Cheque Dishonour | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the appeal by the complainant/appellant against the acquittal of the respondent/accused in a proceeding under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 — filed alongwith a special-leave application under Section 378(4) Cr.P.C., 1973 — should be entertained under the proviso to Section 372 Cr.P.C./Section 413 BNSS (the complainant being a 'victim'), rather than dismissed for the technical infirmity of not procuring special leave.

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Court's answer

In view of the dicta of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M/s Celestium Financial (supra) and the pronouncement of this Court in Raj Kumar (supra), the present appeal alongwith accompanying application(s) is disposed of by relegating it to the competent Sessions Court under the proviso to Section 372 Cr.P.C./Section 413 BNSS regime rather than dismissing it on the technical infirmity of the Section 378(4) route.

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Ratio / Principle

The present appeal, alongwith accompanying application(s), is remitted to the learned Sessions Judge, Amritsar with a direction to treat the same as having been filed under Section 372 of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 413 of BNSS, 2023; the learned Sessions Judge may entrust the appeal to himself or assign it to another Court of competent jurisdiction for disposal as per law.

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Key takeaways

This Court has not delved into the merits of the appeal or the accompanying application(s); the same are left open for consideration of the concerned learned Sessions Court, which shall adjudicate them without being influenced by any observation made herein.ratio¶28

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Punjab & Haryana High Court (Sumeet Goel, J.; oral; decided 10.09.2025) — CRM-A-759-2025: Appeal by complainant (Amanpreet Kaur) against acquittal of the accused (Bakhsish Singh and another) in a Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act matter, filed alongwith a special-leave application under Section 378(4) Cr.P.C., 1973. Acting on the dicta of the Supreme Court in M/s Celestium Financial (2025 INSC 804) and this Court's pronouncement in Raj Kumar (CRM-A-826-2025, 2025:PHHC:079740) — under which the complainant in a S.138 complaint is a 'victim' whose appeal against acquittal falls under the proviso to Section 372 Cr.P.C./Section 413 BNSS, the broader route, and not the narrower special-leave route of Section 378(4) — the Court declined to dismiss the appeal for this technical infirmity and instead disposed of it by remitting the appeal and accompanying applications to the learned Sessions Judge, Amritsar, with direction to treat them as filed under Section 372 Cr.P.C./Section 413 BNSS; the Sessions Judge may hear it himself or assign it to another competent Court; the merits were expressly left open, and the Registry was directed to transmit the complete records expeditiously.

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CRM-A-759-2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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236

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CRM-A-759-2025

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Date of decision: 10.09.2025

AMANPREET KAUR

....APPELLANT

V/s

BAKHSISH SINGH AND ANOTHER

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....RESPONDENTS

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CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUMEET GOEL Present: None for the appellant/applicant.

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SUMEET GOEL, J. (Oral)

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The substantive prayer made in the present appeal reads, thus: “It is, therefore, respectfully prayed that by way of acceptance of present prayer of the appellant/complainant, respondent/accused may kindly be convicted under section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act and also for grant of damages and compensation to the appellant/complainant in the interest of justice, equity and fair play.”

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Alongwith an appeal, an application for grant of leave has also been preferred under Section 378(4) Cr.P.C., 1973

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I have perused the paper-book.

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Before proceeding to consider the application (for grant of special leave to appeal)/appeal, it would be apposite to refer herein to a judgment passed by this Court in CRM-A-826-2025 titled as Raj Kumar vs. Rajender : 2025:PHHC:079740 wherein, this Court, while relying upon the dicta of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in M/s Celestium Financial vs. A. Gnanasekaran Etc. 2025 INSC 804 : 2025(3) RCR (Criminal) 208, has held that an appeal against an order of acquittal in a proceeding under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 preferred by the JATIN2025.09.11 09:34 complainant, falls squarely within the purview of proviso to Section 372 of I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-A-759-2025

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Cr.P.C./413 of BNSS, 2023. This judicial enunciation was predicated upon the interpretative understanding that, for the purposes of a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the complainant is encompassed within the expansive definition of ‘ victim ’ as delineated in the Cr.P.C., 1973/BNSS, 2023. Consequently, the complainant is not constrained to pursue the more stringent procedure of seeking special leave to appeal under Section 378(4) of Cr.P.C., 1973/419(4) of BNSS, 2023. This Court underscored that the scope and ambit of proviso to Section 372 Cr.P.C./413 BNSS are inherently broader and more accommodating when juxtaposed with the comparatively narrower confines of Section 378(4) of Cr.P.C., 1973/419(4) of BNSS, 2023, which mandates the procurement of special leave from the High Court for an appeal against an acquittal in a complaint case.

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However, demonstrating a profound commitment to the overarching principles of justice and a determination to preclude mere procedural technicalities from eclipsing the substantive adjudication of the case, this Court, instead of summarily dismissing the appeal on this technical infirmity, judiciously opted to relegate the appeal, along with accompanying application(s), to the concerned Sessions Court.

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Ergo; in view of the dicta of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in M/s Celestium Financial (supra) as also the pronouncement of this Court in Raj Kumar (supra); the present appeal, along with accompanying application(s), is disposed of as hereunder:

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(i) The present appeal, along with accompanying application(s), is remitted to the learned Sessions Judge, Amritsar with a direction to treat the same as having been filed under Section 372 of Cr.P.C., 1973/Section 413 of JATIN 2025.09.11 09:34 I attest to the accuracy and BNSS, 2023. The said learned Sessions Judge may entrust the appeal to integrity of this document

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CRM-A-759-2025

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himself or assign it to another Court of competent jurisdiction for its disposal, as per law.

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(ii) Needless to clarify that this Court has not delved into the merits of the appeal as also along with accompanying application(s); and the same is left open for consideration of the concerned learned Sessions Court, which shall indubitably adjudicate the same without getting influenced by any observation made hereinabove.

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(iii). The Registry is directed to send, expeditiously, the complete records of the present appeal (including the paper-book) to the said learned Sessions Judge.

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(SUMEET GOEL) JUDGE

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10.09.2025

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jatin

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Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes/No Whether reportable: Yes/No

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JATIN 2025.09.11 09:34 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

Amanpreet Kaur v. Bakhsish Singh and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

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Amanpreet Kaur v. Bakhsish Singh and Another

Case brief

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