New Delhi : A 65-year-old man has been sentenced to two years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.7.2 lakh in a cheque bounce case by a Delhi court which said such matters are unduly increasing pendency leading to “docket explosion and extraction of judicial time”.
The court said that such dishonest conduct of issuance of cheques leads not only to docket explosion, which needs to be tackled with a heavy hand, but also harasses the complainant whose money is withheld.
Metropolitan Magistrate Ashok Kumar noted that the case, pending since 2001, was more than 14-year-old and the accused, proprietor of a firm, takes major share of the blame as trial was unduly delayed.
“… Keeping in view the fact that the cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act are unduly clogging the dockets of the courts leading to docket explosion and extraction of judicial time which could have been given to other cases and on the other hand due to the dishonest issuance of cheque, the same is eroding of credibility of such instruments, this court does not deem it necessary to extend the benefit of Probation of Offender Act to the accused,” the court said.
