JUDGMENT

S.B. Sinha, J.—Leave granted.

2. Appellant herein was charged with commission of an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short, ‘the Act’) on the premise that a cheque issued by her on 05.09.1997 for a sum of Rs. 1 lakh drawn in favour of the respondent herein, when presented, was dishonoured for the reason “funds insufficient”. A legal notice was sent to her, but despite the receipt thereof, she had not repaid the said amount.

3. Before the learned Trial Judge, a defence was raised by the appellant herein that the cheque in question was not drawn in discharge of any debt or security but in fact was drawn for payment of a balance consideration for sale of a property in her favour by the wife of the respondent.

4. According to the appellant, Smt. Sathyabhama owned a property bearing old Survey No. 1363/3-1-1 measuring an area of 47 cents. She had executed two Sale Deeds, one in favour of Mr. Ramchandran Nair and another in favour of Thankamony conveying to them 20 cents and 27 cents respectively. The Sale Deeds were allegedly executed in favour of the aforementioned persons as a security in lieu of some amount paid in her favour. However,