The appellant herein is the complainant in C.C.No.297 of 1996 on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II, Aluva which is a case instituted upon a private complaint for an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (hereinafter referred to for short as ‘the N.I.Act’ only). As per the judgment dated 19.9.1998 in C.C.No.297 of 1996 of the trial court, the accused was found guilty under Section 138 of the N.I.Act and he was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. Challenging the above conviction and sentence, the accused preferred an appeal as Crl. Appeal No.5 of 1999 (originally it was numbered as Crl.A.No.387/98 of the Sessions Court, Ernakulam). As per the judgment dated 1.6.2000 in Crl.Appeal No.5 of 1999, the Additional Sessions Judge, North Paravur allowed the appeal setting aside the conviction and sentence of the trial court. Challenging the above order of the lower Appellate Court, the complainant initially filed Crl.M.C.No.4122 of 2000 for leave of this Court which was granted on 11.8.2000 and thus, this appeal is preferred against the judgment of the lower Appellate Court.

2. The case of the appellant/complainant