JUDGMENT/ORDER

1. The present appeal is filed by the appellant/original complainant thereby challenging the judgment and order passed by the First Appellate Court in Criminal Appeal No.72 of 2016 dtd. 09/12/2017 wherein the said appeal filed by the respondent was allowed and judgment and conviction passed by the trial Court under Sec. 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act ('the N.I. Act' for short) was quashed and set aside.

2. Vide order dtd. 03/10/2017 in Criminal Misc. Application No. 184 of 2017, leave to file an appeal was granted. Accordingly, the appeal was registered.

3. Heard learned Counsel Shri V.A. Lawande along with Shri Parimal Redkar, for the appellant and learned Counsel Shri John A. Lobo for the respondent.

4. The parties are hereinafter called as complainant and accused as they were arrayed before the trial Court for the sake of convenience.

5. In nutshell, the complaint was filed before the learned Magistrate at Canacona against the accused which was registered as Criminal Case No.29/NI/2014. It was the complaint under Sec. 138 of the N.I. Act. In short, it is the case of the complainant that he knows the accused and both of them are distant relatives. The accused bor