JUDGMENT :

1. The appellant/complainant preferred this appeal aggrieved by the impugned judgment of acquittal dtd. 17/10/2011 passed in C.C.No.622/2006 on the file of the learned Principal Civil Judge and Principal JMFC, Dharwad (for short, 'the trial Court'), whereby the accused is acquitted for the offence punishable under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act (for short, 'the N.I. Act').

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties in this appeal are referred to as per their status and ranking before the trial Court.

3. Brief facts of the case are that, the appellant herein as complainant filed private complaint in PCR No.97/2006 before the trial Court against the respondent/accused alleging commission of the offence punishable under Sec. 138 of N.I. Act. It is stated that the complainant and accused were friends and were knowing each other since 12 years. It is contended that the accused approached the complainant during December-2005 and requested for hand loan of Rs.78,000.00 to meet his family necessities. He promised to repay the same within six months. Accordingly, the complainant lent an amount of Rs.78,000.00 and was demanding back the amount frequently. Finally, the ac