Dishonestly issuing a cheque:
Whoever dishonestly issues a cheque towards repayment of a loan or fulfillment of an obligation which is dishonoured on presentation, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years or with fine, or with both, unless he can establish, for which the burden of proof shall rest on him, that he had made arrangements with his bank to ensure that the cheque would be honoured and that the bank was at fault in not honouring the cheque.
Now here's my complete story.
I used to run a small IT company, and my office was located in a marketplace plaza where the complainent had a computer repairing and CD selling shop. I used to buy from him CDs of films and software and sometimes the computer accessories, and as a result got familiar with him. It went on like this for couple of years and then one day he came to me and asked for 65000 rupees as a loan which i gave him on his promise to return it within few months. It was December when he borrowed money from me, and in Feburary next year he gave me back 28000 rupees, and promised to repay me the remining 37000 in a month's time which he didn't and, then one dqay in the month of May he came to my office and we had a quarrel. During the quarrel some clients of mine came to office and i went out of my room to the main hall leaving the complaionent sitting in my office, and he opened my table drawer and beneath my important papers took out my cheque book and stole three empty cheques from my chequebook.
I came back to my room and he said to me that i give him just 3-4 days and he'll give me back my money. I said ok and he went out.
I came to know of the theft of cheques from my chequebook the next day when i took it out to write a cheque to one of my clients, and I immediately called the bank and on the bank's customer service agent's advice I cancelled my whole chequebook.
The bank issued stop payment order on all cheques of the chequebook.
Then I went to police station to lodge a report for the missing cheques but they refused saying that only SSP can order them to do the FIR.
Then the next day the complainent called me to his office where he and 4 others on gun point asked me to fill the 3 cheques with 3 different amounts, and sign them, and also asked me to fill a pronote for the combined amount of 2 cheques, and threatened that if i told anyone about this incident my family would be harmed. He said to forget the money that he owed me and that he would give meback my cheques once he was assured that i won't demand my money or compalin against him.
Since there was a serious threat of grave danger to my family, and his brother and one other person kept constant survellence on me and since my father ws in other city and i was at home with just my mom, and sister and a younger brother I decided not to tell anyone about that incident.
Then after two and a half months, the complainent demanded money in blackmailing, and said that he needed to send his brother to UK so he needs money and that i should now give him the exact amount that the UK immigration required in bank statement proof, and when I refused, then he went to the bank at area C, and presented the cheque and bank attached slip with it giving the reason of "stop payment".
Complainent then went to his local police station at area C, and got registered FIR under 489F of PPC. In his FIR he said that he gave me money as i had promised him to give him huge profits in business, and when i didn't give him any profits, he demanded money back and i gave him two cheques.
Police told me about the FIR, and i got pre-arrest bail from Sessions Court.
After one month while the case under investigation and i was on bail, complainent then went to area D, and there opened a new account, and deposited the 2nd stolen cheque, and that bank of area D attached "stop payment" reason in the slip with the cheque.
Complainent then went to area D police station and got registered 2nd FIR under 489F of PPC. There he again gave the same reason of the first FIR.
I then instead of getting interim bail for the 2nd FIR, handed over myself to area D police who first handed me back to area C police for the investigation of first FIR there as my first interim bail for that FIR had been cancelled due to non persuance by me, after which i was sent on judicial remand by the area C magistrate.
Investigating officer, IO, of area C police submitted in his report that although i was innocent as the complainent was unable to give any solid proof that i owed him money or that he gave me money of one million rupees for investing in the business but the signatures on the cheques were mine.
Then police from area D got my remand from jail, and the IO of that area police also found me innocent as the complainent was unable to prove that he had given those amounts which was on the 2nd cheque to the accused i.e me.
The witnesses presented by the complainent against me told police in both cases that they had not seen complainent giving money to me, the accused. Only the younger brother of complainent told police that he had seen his brother, the complainent giving money to me.
After few months, i got my first post arrest bail in first case from sessions court. Then complainent applied for reinvestigation of first case that was registered in area C, giving the reason that IO had been biased towards the accused, and that he was working with the accused. A DSP was appointed to re-investigate. I was at that time in jail. I recorded my statement infront of the assistant of the DSP, and DSP then kept on doing investigation, and recorded statements of complainent 's younger brother, who, told that he had seen me, the accused, getting money from his brother, the Complainant. The 2nd witness was an office boy of complainent , who said that he doesn't know the exact amount but the accused used to come and borrow money from complainent. Based upon these statements and that the signatures on the both cheques were genuine, the DSP declared me as guilty, and sent supplementary challan in the first case.
The DSP had not asked the me who at that time was in jail to prove his case, nor the DSP asked the Complainant to prove that he had that money with him and how and when he had given that money to the accused. It was one sided inquirey.
Then after one month, in 2nd case that had been registered in area D, i got my post arrest bail from HC, where the judge during the proceedings remarked that 2nd case was registered due to malafide intention, since two cheques belonged to one transaction, so both cheques should have gone in first FIR, or both FIR's should have been registered in area C.
Both cases are now in trial court for the past two years, and no evidence has yet been recorded. Now please tell me what remedies can i now avail? What should i do in this case of mine?
Thanks.
