Revision petitioner who has been concurrently found guilty under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act impugns the order of conviction and sentence passed against him in this revision petition. But apart from the question of correctness, legality or propriety of the orders under challenge, yet another interesting question has cropped up for consideration in this case.

2. The question: Is the criminal court bound by the decree and judgment passed by a competent civil court holding that the cheque which was the subject matter of the criminal prosecution was not supported by consideration as alleged by the complainant-plaintiff and that the accused/defendant had not borrowed any money from the defendant at all?

3. In other words, the question is: Can a criminal court ignore the judgment and decree inter partes and decide the question of culpability of the accused solely on the basis of the evidence adduced by the parties in the criminal proceeding?

4. Before we deal with the above legal question, the essential facts which led to the prosecution case may be briefly noticed.

5. Respondent/complainant alleged that the accused had borrowed a sum of Rs.45,000/- from h