O R D E R

% 04.09.2025

1. The present petition has been filed under Section 378 (4) Cr.P.C. by the petitioner/complainant seeking leave to appeal against the judgement dated 09.03.2022 passed by learned JMFC, NI Act, PHC in the case bearing CC No.3250/2018 and 3251/2018, vide which the petitioner/complainant’s case was dismissed for non-prosecution, and consequently, in view of Section 256 of the CrPC, the respondent No.2 was acquitted of the offense under Section 138 NI Act.

2. The attention of this Court is drawn to the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Celestium Financial vs A. Gnanasekaran etc, reported as 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1320 wherein, it has been held that the complainant under Section 138 NI Act, who suffers financial loss and injury on account of the dishonour of cheque, would qualify as a victim within the meaning of Section 2 (wa) Cr.P.C.

It was further held that such a complainant could maintain an appeal under proviso to Section 372 CrPC in his own right, without complying with the rigours of Section 378 (4) CrPC. The relevant portion is extracted hereunder:-

“7.7 In the context of offences under the Act, particularly under Section 138 of the said Act, the comp