The court has held that under Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the offence can be compounded with the consent of the aggrieved party, even if the conviction has been upheld by the appellate court.

ORDER

1. RULE. Learned advocates waive service of Rule on behalf of the respective respondents.

2. Challenge in this Revision Application is given to the judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 21.09.2023 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Narmda at Rajpipla in Criminal Appeal No.36 of 2023 confirming the judgment and order of conviction dated 19.04.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rajpipla in Criminal Case No.763 of 2016.

3. Learned advocate for the applicant submitted that submitted that the cheque amount is Rs.1,70,000/- and while allowing the appeal, 20% of the cheque amount has been deposited before the Appellate Court and the total cheque amount has been paid.

He submitted that during the pendency of the proceedings, parties have settled the disputes amicably outside the Court and that there remains no grievance between them.

4. Learned advocate Ms.Pooja Baswal has instructions to appear on behalf of respondent no.2 – original complainant. She seeks permission to file Vakalatnama. Her Vakalatnama to be accepted.

5. As per the settlement, learned advocate Ms.Pooja Baswal has placed on record the affidavit of settlement filed by the respondent no.2–original complainant who appeared before this Court through video conference from the office of learned advocate Mr.T.A.Thakar who has identified the complainant. The said affidavit is taken on record. In the affidavit filed by the original complainant it is clearly stated that amount of Rs.1,70,000/- has already been paid. Learned advocate seeks permission to file Vakalatnama. Let Vakalatnama be accepted.

5. Respondent no.2 has affirmed the contents of the affidavit and is identified by learned advocate for respondent no.2. Respondent no.2 has further stated that total amount of Rs.1,70,000/- has been paid and he has no objection if the 20% of the cheque amount be given to the original accused.

6. Since the complainant has given consent for compounding the offence, keeping in mind the object of Section 147 of the NI Act, which is an enabling provision which provides for compounding the offence and may require the consent of the aggrieved for compounding the offence, however, the specific provision under Section 147, inserted by way of amendment towards special law, would give overriding effect to sub-section (1) of Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as has been observed in the case of Damodar S. Prabhu v. Sayed Baba Lal, AIR 2010 SC 1907. Accordingly, as the dispute has been resolved and the entire amount has been paid to the complainant, in consonance with the object of the N.I. Act and the provisions under Section 147 thereof, the matter is considered as compounded.

7. In aforesaid view of the matter, the judgment and order passed by the learned Trial Court of conviction and sentence for the offence punishable under Section 138 of the NI Act, as affirmed by the learned Appellate Court, are quashed and set aside. The applicant stands acquitted.

8. In view of the above, the concerned Court is directed to return 20% of amount to the original accused on proper verification of the identity, deposited towards the appeal.

9. Accordingly, the present application is allowed in the above terms. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent. Direct service is permitted.

10. In view of this order passed in the main matter, the connected application filed for suspension of sentence would not survive and it is disposed of accordingly.