E-Paper
Amritsar woman jailed for six months in cheque bounce case
Was accused by her brother-in-law of issuing her a cheque for Rs 5 lakh without sufficient funds
An Amritsar woman has been awarded six months in jail for issuing a cheque for ₹5 lakh to her brother-in-law without sufficient funds.
The court of Nazmeen Singh, judicial magistrate first class, also ordered Twinkle Dutta to pay compensation equivalent to the cheque amount within one month after expiry of time prescribed for filing of appeal or on its disposal.
The case was filed by Twinkle’s brother-in-law (sister’s husband) Pawan Kumar Pushkarna, a resident of Sector 27, Chandigarh.
Pushkarna alleged that Twinkle had borrowed ₹7 lakh from him. On December 1, 2012, she issued him a cheque for ₹5 lakh from her account at State Bank of India, Amritsar.
But when he presented the cheque, it was dishonoured by the bank with the remarks “funds insufficient.”
A legal notice was sent in January 2013, but to no avail. Hence, Kumar moved court under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act, 1881.
In court, Twinkle claimed that she was innocent and had been falsely implicated. “I never issued the cheque and it does not bear my signature. The complainant (Kumar) stole my cheque from my bag as I was frequent visitor to the house of the complainant, him being the husband of my real sister.”
Convicting Twinkle, the court stated, “The convict/accused has committed a serious offence by deliberately failing in discharge of her economic liability and has failed to ensure the payment of cheque drawn by her. The commission of offence punishable under Section 138 of NI Act is increasing day by day and is required to be dealt with strictly.”
