Judgment :

(Rakesh Kainthla, J.)

The petitioner has filed the present revision petition against the judgment dated 27.02.2023 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sundernagar, District Mandi, H.P. (learned Appellate Court) vide which the judgment of conviction dated 01.06.2022 and order of sentence dated 13.07.2022, passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No. II, Sundernagar, District Mandi, H.P. (learned Trial Court) were upheld. (The parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present revision are that the complainant filed a complaint before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (for short N.I. Act). It was asserted that the accused issued a cheque of Rs.20,000/- in favour of the complainant to discharge his legal liability. The complainant presented the cheque to his bank, but it was dishonoured with the remark ‘payment stopped by the drawer’. The complainant issued a notice asking the accused to pay the amount within 15 days of the rec