JUDGMENT

Appellant challenges the judgment of acquittal dated

28.12.2023 in S.T. No.50 of 2023 on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-III, Attingal. As per the impugned judgment, the accused was acquitted under Section 256 of Criminal Procedure Code , 1973 (for short, ‘Cr.P.C.), since the complainant was neither present nor represented, on the date of posting.

2. The proceedings arose under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act , 1881, wherein the appellant alleged, as complainant, that the accused had issued a cheque in discharge of a legally enforceable debt, and thereafter, when it was presented for encashment, it returned dishonoured for ‘insufficiency of funds’. After the accused appeared in the Trial Court, the complainant, though absent on most of the occasions, was always represented by his counsel, except on 28.12.2023. The Trial Court without reference to the representation by the Counsel, noticed that the complainant had been absent regularly, and on that basis, a