IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Sr. No.142 CRM-M-24997-2023 Reserved on:-18.03.2026 Pronounced on:-23.03.2026 Uploaded on:- __________

Whether only operative part of the judgment is Pronounced or the full judgment is pronounced: operative part/full judgment SANJIV KUMAR ...Petitioner Versus JEET SINGH AND ANR. ....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANDEEP PANNU Present:- Mr. Mandeep Kumar Dhot, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Dhiraj Jindal, Advocate for respondent No.1.

None for respondent No.2.

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MANDEEP PANNU, J.

1. The present petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing of complaint No. NACT-551 dated 15.07.2020 titled as “Jeet Singh vs. Sanjiv Kumar and another”, pending in the Court of Shri Karun Garg, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Sangrur, along with all consequential proceedings arising therefrom qua the petitioner. 2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the complainant filed a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act against the present petitioner Sanjiv Kumar and co-accused Deepak Kumar alleging that the complainant had purchased a car bearing registration No. PB-13-AL-

1188 for a sum of Rs.4,40,000/- and it was agreed that the accused would discharge the loan liability of HDB Financial Services Ltd. It was further alleged that upon failure of the accused to repay the loan amount, the complainant returned the vehicle for Rs.3,80,000/- and in lieu thereof, the accused issued multiple post-dated cheques. The details of the cheques are as follows:

cheque No. 225468 dated 05.04.2020 for Rs.70,000/-, cheque No. 225469 dated 05.05.2020 for Rs.70,000/-, cheque No. 225470 dated 05.06.2020 for Rs.50,000/-, cheque No. 225473 dated 09.06.2020 for Rs.40,000/-, cheque No.225471 dated 05.07.2020 for Rs.50,000/- and cheque No. 225472 dated 05.09.2020 for Rs.1,00,000/-.

3. All the aforesaid cheques, on presentation, were dishonoured, and thereafter legal notice dated 23.06.2020 was issued to the accused persons, but despite that, payment was not made, leading to the filing of the complaint. It is further borne out from the record that the complainant had filed six complaints arising out of the same transaction against the petitioner and co-accused Deepak Kumar. Vide order dated 08.01.2021 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Sangrur, all the six complaints were ordered to be clubbed together, with complaint No. NACT-551 of 2020 being treated as the main case.

4. During the pendency of the proceedings, the matter was referred to the Lok Adalat, wherein an award dated 12.11.2022 was passed to the effect that the accused would pay a total sum of Rs.3,90,000/- in full and final settlement of the cheque amount, out of which Rs.50,000/- was paid and the remaining amount was to be paid in instalments, with the next instalment fixed for 18.11.2022. However, despite the passing of the said award, the petitioner failed to adhere to the terms thereof and did not make further payment, as a result of which the proceedings in the complaint continued against him.

5. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing of the complaint on the ground that he is not the signatory to the cheque in question and that the cheque was in fact issued by co-accused Deepak Kumar. It has been further averred that the petitioner had no liability towards the complainant and that he was falsely implicated. It is also the case of the petitioner that he entered into a compromise under coercion and pressure at the time of Lok Adalat proceedings and that he later came to know that he was not liable as he had not issued the cheque. The petitioner has further alleged misuse of the judicial process and contended that no legal notice was properly served upon him.

6. Per contra, learned counsel for respondent No.1-complainant has opposed the present petition and contended that once the matter was settled before the