New Delhi For issuing a cheque without sufficient fund in ones account, a person can be tried for both bouncing of his cheque and for cheating as the two trials do not breach double jeopardy doctrine, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A bench o
f justices B S Chauhan and J S Khehar gave the ruling while dismissing Gujarat native Sangeetaben Mahendrabhai Patels appeal for quashing a criminal case of cheating and breach of trust, pending before Patans chief judicial magistrate in the state. She had come to the apex court contending that as per the double jeopardy doctrine, she cannot be tried twice for the same offence.
Under the double jeopardy doctrine, enshrined under Article 22 of the Constitution and section 300( 1) of the CrPC, a person cannot be convicted twice for the same offence.
The apex court, however, dismissed her appeal, saying the doctrine of double jeopardy ‘does not prevent the trial of any offence…’
