##PAGE1##

1

Digitally

signed by

ALLENA A AL NL NE AN JEA E

ANNAJEE RAO

RAO D 20a 2te 6: .02.10

16:49:13

+0530

2026:CGHC:6256

NAFR

HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

CRMP No. 113 of 2026

Sunil Soni S/o Shri Rajkumar Soni Aged About 45 Years Occupation -

Advocacy, R/o Gali No. 2, Katora Talab, Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.)

... Petitioner

versus

1. Dev Narayan Dewangan S/o Shri Dhaneshwar Dewangan Aged About 42

Years R/o Navrang Chowk, Santoshi Nagar, Boriyakhurd, Raipur, District

Raipur (C.G.).

2 - The State of Chhattisgarh through the District Collector, Raipur, District

Raipur (C.G.) ... Respondents

For the petitioner : Ms. Ankita Goswami, Advocate

For the State/R-2 : Mr. Aman Tamboli, Panel Lawyer

(Hon’ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal)

Order on Board

04/02/2026

1. This revision has been filed u/s 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik

Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 against the order dated 25.09.2025 passed by the

learned Sixth Additional Sessions Judge, Raipur, in Criminal Revision

No.138/2025 whereby the revision filed by the petitioner has been rejected.

2. The complainant/petitioner had filed the application u/s 138 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act against respondent no.1 stating that the

2

petitioner had given him Rs.7 lakhs on different dates as a credit for his

business and had executed the agreement on 09.04.2024 regarding refund

of the amount within a period of four months, but when the said amount

was not refunded by respondent no.1, he gave the petitioner two Post

Dated Cheques amounting to Rs.4 lakhs and Rs.3 lakhs for clearance of

debt. On presentation of the said cheques in the Bank the same were

dishonoured due to insufficiency of funds in the account of respondent

no.1.

3. Petitioner filed complaint case before the JMFC, Raipur and during

the pendency of the said complaint case, he filed application u/s 143A of

the Negotiable Instrument Act and sought 20% of the cheque amount as

interim compensation, but the learned trial Court vide order dated

25.03.2025, rejected the application holding that the provision u/s 143(A)

of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is not mandatory. Against the said

order, the petitioner preferred Criminal Revision No. 138/2025 which was

dismissed by the learned Revisional Court holding that there is no illegality

or incorrectness in the order passed by the trial Court. Hence, this

petition.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the provision u/s

143A of the N.I. Act, 1881 clearly provides for granting interim

compensation of 20% of the entire cheque amount and the revisional court

as also the trial court have not properly looked into the provisions

envisaged in Section 143A of the N.I. Act and rejected the application filed

by the petitioner by impugned orders which cannot be allowed to sustain.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and have also perused

the material placed on record.

6. A perusal of the material placed on record shows that a complaint

case u/s 138 of N.I. Act was registered against accused/ respondent no.1

before the trial Court and on 02.12.2024 when the particulars of the

3

offence were narrated before the trial Court, the accused denied the

offence. The trial Court has rejected the application filed by the

complainant u/s 143A of the Negotiable Instruments Act on the ground

that the said provision is not mandatory and many facts in the case are yet

to be adjudicated.

7. The revisional Court observed that the accused denied the crime at

the time of narration of particulars of the offence and he was tenant of the

complainant and due to financial problem, he was living in a rented house

and it is also necessary to consider the defence of accused qua the merits

of the case. Thus being not found any infirmity or illegality in the trial

Court order, the revisional court rejected the petitioner’s revision.

8. The Supreme Court in Rakesh Ranjan Shrivastava v. State of

Jharkhand (2024) 4 SCC 419 clarified that the power to grant up to 20%

interim compensation under Section 143A of the Negotiable Instrument