A.P. Lavande, J.—Heard Mr. Sudesh Usgaonkar, learned Counsel for the appellant and Mr. Pereira, learned Counsel for the respondent.

2. By this appeal, the appellant (‘the accused’) takes exception to the judgment and order dated 31/12/2009 passed by the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Vasco-da-Gama in Criminal Case No.66/OA/NIA/09/C acquitting the respondent of the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (‘the Act’ for short).

3. The case of the complainant in brief is as follows :

The accused approached the complainant with the proposal that he wanted to extend his business of processing quick and quality photo film processing, by purchasing New Digital Film Processing Unit, Konica 808 Gold, run by him under the name and style “F. M. Studio” and requested the complainant to invest an amount of Rs. 5 Lakhs in the said business. The accused also assured the complainant that the business would fetch good profits and the complainant would get an amount of Rs. 12,50,000/- (Rs. twelve lakhs fifty thousand only) in the form of 25,000/- per month for 50 months. Accordingly, the complainant handed over Rs.5 Lakhs to the accused to be invested i