1. The acquittal of the accused for the offence under S.138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ('N.I Act' for short) is challenged by the complainant in this appeal.

2. As per the complaint, the accused issued cheque dated 16.05.2005 for Rs.1,90,000/- to the complainant in discharge of a debt and when the complainant presented the cheque for collection, the same was dishonoured due to insufficiency of funds in the account of the accused. It is stated that in spite of issuance of statutory notice, the accused failed to pay the cheque amount to the complainant.

3. Before the trial court, PW1 examined and Exhibits P1 to P7 were marked from the side of the complainant, and no evidence adduced from the side of the accused.

4. After considering the oral and documentary evidence and hearing both sides, the trial court found that the complainant has not succeeded in proving the offence under S.138 of the N.I Act against the accused and hence, the accused was acquitted.

5. Heard Sri. K.B. Arun Kumar, the learned counsel for the appellant, Sri. Mathews K. Philip, the learned counsel for the first respondent / accused and Smt. Haznamol N. S., the learned Public Prosecutor for the second re