A Delhi court has directed a businessman to pay a fine of Rs 100,000 and sentenced him to 15-day imprisonment after finding that the cheque which he issued had bounced.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain also said in case if the convict S K Jain -- proprietor of the Chawri Bazar-based Paper and Board Rolls Converter -- defaults the payment of fine he would have to undergo further imprisonment of three months.
"This penal section has been introduced to encourage greater vigilance to prevent usual insensitive attitude of drawers of cheques in discharge of debt and to lend greater trustworthiness to commercial activities which are imperative for smooth business transactions," the court said.
Complainant Vijender Kumar Gupta -- running a business of trading in paper and board -- said he had supplied goods worth Rs 67,158 on May 11, 2000 to Jain.
Jain then issued a cheque to Gupta which when presented before a bank was returned with remarks "insufficient funds".
However, Jain contended that he did not receive any goods at all from Gupta.
Gupta alleged that Jain took undue advantage of his (Gupta's) old age and attempted to defraud him saying he never received goods. A case under Negotiable Instruments Act was registered against Gupta.
The court said it was not disputed that the cheque was issued and that it bounced, adding that there was no proof before it showing that Jain did not receive goods from Gupta.
Had Jain not received goods, he would have reacted soon and asked for it, but nothing of that sort was done, the court said.
