Judgment

Mr. Anoop Chitkara, J.:-

1. Seeking quashing of FIR captioned above on the ground that a similar case under the Negotiable Instruments Act was filed by the complainants and dishonor of cheque cannot be construed as a deliberate intention to cheat and a malicious act on the part of the issuer, the accused has come up before this court under Section 482 CrPC.

2. I have heard counsel for the petitioners as well as private respondents and also gone through the pleadings.

3. The petitioners’ case is that an FIR was registered for embezzlement of Rs.1.59 crores, whereas the complainants/respondents No.2 & 3 had also separately instituted criminal complaints under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act (in short ‘NIA’) (Annexures P-2 & P-3) for the same amount, which violates his fundamental right under Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India being double jeopardy.

4. A perusal of Annexure P-2 reveals that the complaint was for the dishonor of a cheque amounting to Rs. 49 lacs, and similarly, Annexure P-3 was filed for the dishonor of a