Cheque Dishonour Case Convict Agrees To Pay After 10 Yrs Litigation; Supreme Court Imposes Rs 5 Lakh Cost For Wasting Judicial Time

A party faced the ire of the Supreme Court for taking a cheque dishonour dispute to the level of apex level before agreeing to settle the matter with the complainant. The appellant had approached the Supreme Court challenging the concurrent orders of conviction passed by three courts against him for the offence of cheque dishonour under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.Before the Supreme Court, the appellant finally agreed to settle the matter by paying the complainant Rs 69 lakhs. However, the Court was not impressed with the settlement made after 10 years of litigation, and termed it a "tyranny of justice" as far as the complainant is concerned, as he had had no option but to compromise now."It is tyranny of justice caused to the complainant after spending 10 years in litigation left with no other option but to compromise for the reason that if the matter is processed any further in this Court, he will be deprived of his legitimate claim which has at least now become due to him after his complaint being tried by three different Courts in hierarchy upholding conviction of the petitioner with the concurrent finding of guilt for offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act."A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar directed the appellant to pay cost of Rupees 5 lakhs as a condition to accept the settlement. "…but this Court cannot be oblivious of the situation that precious judicial time of almost 10 years of the Courts has been consumed in this litigation and mere compromise entered into by the parties may not be sufficient to close the proceedings", the Bench observed. The money was directed to be deposited with the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Advocates Welfare Fund within a period of two months."Looking to the quantification of default amount in reference to which the petitioner was convicted under Section 138 of the NI Act, let an additional sum of Rs. 5 lakhs be deposited by the petitioner with the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Advocates Welfare Fund within a period of two months and the receipt of money deposited be placed with the Registry of this Court."The matter will be next heard on January 17, 2023. Case Title: Santhosh, J Versus V. Narasimha Murthy | Petition(S) For Special Leave To Appeal (Crl.) No(S). 119/2022Citation : 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 874Negotiable Instruments Act - Section 138 - Supreme Court imposes Rs 5 lakhs cost on convict who agreed to settle the dispute only after 10 years of litigation- Court cites wastage of precious judicial time and tyranny of justice caused to complainant.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Cheque Dishonour Case Convict Agrees To Pay After 10 Yrs Litigation; Supreme Court Imposes Rs 5 Lakh Cost For Wasting Judicial Time

Rintu Mariam Biju

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