IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on : 09.02.2026 Pronounced on : 06.03.2026 Uploaded on : 06.03.2026 Whether only operative part of the judgment is pronounced or the full judgment is pronounced: operative part/full Judgment Rajender Singh ...Petitioner(s)

VERSUS State of Haryana and another ...Respondent(s)

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD S. BHARDWAJ Present :- Mr. Shivek Thakur, Advocate for the applicant(s)-petitioner(s).

Ms. Chhavi Sharma, AAG Haryana.

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VINOD S. BHARDWAJ, J.

The instant criminal revision petition has been preferred against the judgment dated 05.06.2024 and order of sentence dated 06.06.2024 passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Bhiwani, as well as the judgment dated 19.07.2025 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani, vide which the appeal filed by the petitioner was dismissed and he was convicted and sentenced as under:

2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the complainant maintained cordial relations with the petitioner-accused, being partners in a transport business. On 24.12.2018, the petitioner approached him with a request for a loan for the marriage of his two daughters. Since the complainant maintained good relations with the petitioner, he lent a sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- to the latter through the bank on 24.12.2018. The complainant further lent Rs. 2,00,000/- on 27.12.2018, 50,000/- on 14.03.2019; 75,000/- on 16.03.2019; 75,000/- on 20.03.2019; and 50,000/- through bank on 22.03.2019 and a sum of Rs. 50,000/- in cash on the same day. The petitioner promised to return the aforesaid money to the complainant by 15.05.2019. In discharge of his liability, the petitioner issued a cheque bearing No. 131424 dated 02.06.2019 of Rs. 7,00,000/-, drawn from his IDBI Bank, Jind Branch account. The complainant presented the aforesaid cheque for clearance in his HDFC Bank, Bhiwani account bearing No. 50100130803431 on 20.06.2019; however, the same was dishonoured on presentation with the endorsement “funds insufficient” vide memo dated

21.06.2019.

3. The complainant then got served a Legal Notice, calling upon the petitioner to make the payment within 15 days of the receipt of legal notice. However, the same was not done and a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act came to be filed before the Judicial Magistrate 1^st Class, Bhiwani. The petitioner pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The complainant stepped into the witness box as CW-1 and reiterated the allegations made in the complaint. The complainant also produced documents Ex. C-1 i.e. original cheque bearing No. 131424 dated 02.06.2019 amounting to Rs. 7,00,000/-, Ex. C-2 i.e. return memo dated 21.06.2019, Ex. C-3 i.e. legal notice dated 26.06.2019, Ex C-4 i.e. postal receipts dated 01.07.2019, Ex. C-5 i.e. track consignment and Ex. C-6 i.e.

account statement of the complainant and proved the relevant documents.

4. Vide judgment and order of sentence dated 05.06.2024/06.06.2024, the petitioner was convicted by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Bhiwani and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for 01 year along with compensation to the tune of Rs.7,00,000/-, i.e., the cheque amount along with 5% interest per annum from the date of issuance of the cheque till the date of judgment. The petitioner filed an appeal against the abovesaid judgment of conviction and vide judgment dated 19.07.2025, the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani, dismissed the appeal. Hence, the present petition has been filed.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that he does not wish to challenge the conviction and confines his prayer only to the quantum of sentence. Hence, the factual matrix and merits of the case are not being examined at this stage. He submits that the present matter pertains to the year 2018/2019 and that no other criminal case has been registered against the petitioner. Counsel further submits that the incident occurred in 2018/2019 and that the petitioner has faced the agony of a prot