Sessions Court Acquits Filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma In Cheque Bounce Case After Settlement In Lok Adalat

The sessions court recently acquitted filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma, who was held guilty for the offence of cheque bouncing. He has been acquitted after Verma and the complainant settled their dispute before the Lok Adalat.

The filmmaker was convicted by the Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in Andheri, Y P Pujari, on January 21, for cheque bouncing under the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act. He was sentenced to three months' jail and was also directed to pay Rs3,72,219 to the complainant within three months.

Appeal Filed

Verma’s lawyer had approached the sessions court, challenging the verdict in February. In his appeal Verma had claimed that the cheque didn’t bear his signature nor was it issued by him.

Pending the appeal, Verma and the complainant had submitted a joint statement on July 29, before the sessions court, stating that they now intend to settle their case before the Lok Adalat. Hearing this, the court had adjourned the matter, giving them an opportunity to go for an amicable settlement. As the dispute was sorted, the two filed a memo of settlement, accepting the same, the sessions court acquitted Verma.

The complaint of cheque bouncing was filed by a partnership firm, namely Shree, through one of its partners, Mahesh Chandra Mishra, in 2018.

Background of Complaint

It was contended that the complainant firm had been engaged in the business of providing hard disks for the last several years. The complainant firm had provided a hard disk to Varma’s firm from the period of February 2018 to March 2018, for which the complainant had raised a bill of Rs2,38,220.

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However, on June 1, 2018, when the complainant deposited the cheque given by Varma to clear the dues, it bounced with the remark of cheque dishonoured for the reason that the funds were insufficient. When the complainant approached Varma, he gave another cheque, which also bounced for the reason ‘payment stopped by drawer’ and as part of outgoing clearing charges. Hence, the complainant claimed that they moved a criminal complaint for cheque bouncing with the magistrate court, Andheri.

The filmmaker had disputed that the cheque didn’t bear his signature nor was it issued by him. However, the magistrate rejected his claim, saying, “It did not find any material brought by the accused to show the probable defence”.