Himachal Pradesh High Court
Decided On: 18.11.2025 vs Uco Bank on 18 November, 2025
Author: Sushil Kukreja
Bench: Sushil Kukreja
1 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 )
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Criminal Revision No. 08 of 2015
Decided on: 18.11.2025
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Tara Devi ....Petitioner
.
Versus
UCO Bank ....Respondent
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sushil Kukreja, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting?1
For the petitioner: Mr. Adarsh Sharma, Advocate.
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For the respondent: Mr. Sanjay Dalmia, Advocate.
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Sushil Kukreja, Judge (oral)
rt The instant petition has been filed by the petitioner-accused under Section 397 read with Section 401 of the Cr.P.C. against judgment, dated 01.09.2014, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Shimla, H.P., in Cr.
Appeal No. RBT-31-S/10 of 2014/2011, whereby the judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, in Case No. 133-3 of 2010/08, was affirmed.
2. The brief facts, giving rise to the present petition, can succinctly be summarized as under:
1Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS
2 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) 2(a). Accused-Tara Devi (petitioner herein) borrowed loan from the complainant-Bank (respondent herein) from its HPMIDC, Himland, Shimla, Branch. The accused agreed to .
all the terms and conditions of the loan agreement and also agreed to repay the loan amount, interest and other charges in monthly installments. However, the accused defaulted the repayment schedule and subsequently issued cheque of bearing No. 936081, dated 11.08.2008, amounting to Rs.18,400/- drawn by accused in favour of the complainant-
Bank.
rt The aforesaid cheque on being presented for encashment was dishonoured, vide dishonor memo, dated 18.08.2008, with remarks "insufficient funds". Subsequently, on 27.08.2008 the complainant-Bank issued a legal notice to the accused. However, the accused failed to liquidate her financial liability towards the complainant-Bank within the stipulated time. Resultantly, the complainant-Bank filed a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (for short "the Act") before the learned Trial Court.
3. The learned Trial Court after conclusion of the trial convicted the accused under Section 138 of the Act and sentenced her to undergo simple imprisonment for a period ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 3 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) of three months and to pay compensation of Rs.30,000/- to the complainant-Bank.
4. Being dissatisfied, the accused/petitioner/convict .
preferred an appeal before the learned Lower Appellate Court, which was dismissed, and judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, passed by learned Trial Court, were affirmed. Hence, of accused/petitioner/convict-Tara Devi preferred the instant petition under Section 397 read with Section 401 Cr.P.C., rt with a prayer that her petition be allowed and the impugned judgments and order of sentence passed by the learned Courts below be set-aside and she be acquitted.
5. During the pendency of the instant petition, an application (Cr.MP No. 3700 of 2025) under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sahinta (for short 'BNSS') read with Section 147 of the Act has been filed by the petitioner-accused, seeking permission of this Court to compound the offence by setting-aside the judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, in Case No. 133-3 of 2010/08, and affirmed vide judgment dated 01.09.2014, passed by learned ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 4 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) Additional Sessions Judge-II, Shimla, H.P., in Cr. Appeal No. RBT-31-S/10 of 2014/2011.
6. Today, the petitioner-accused as well as Ms. .
Shikha Bhatt, Chief Manager of HPMIDC, UCO Bank, Himland, Shimla, are present before this Court and their statements have been separately recorded and placed on the file.
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7. In her statement, the petitioner/accused Tara Devi stated that on the complaint filed by the rt respondent/complainant under Section 138 of the Act she has been convicted by the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class-III, Shimla, H.P., vide judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, whereby she was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for three months and to pay compensation amounting to Rs.30,000/- to the complainant for the commission of the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Act, which was further affirmed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Shimla, vide judgment dated 01.09.2014.
He further stated that now she has paid the entire loan amount and her loan account stands closed, which is clear from the copy of 'No Due Certificate', dated 01.09.2014, ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 5 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) issued by the Manager of the respondent-Bank. She also stated that as the entire loan amount stands paid to the respondent-Bank, the aforesaid judgment of conviction, .
dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence dated 29.06.2011, which was further affirmed by learned Appellate Court vide judgment dated 01.09.2014, may be quashed and set-aside and she may be acquitted of the offence punishable under of Section 138 of the Act.
8. Ms. Shikha Bhatt, Chief Manager of the rt HPMIDC, UCO Bank, Himland, Shimla, stated that since the petitioner-accused has paid the entire loan amount to the Bank and 'No Due Certificate' has also been issued in this regard, the Bank has no objection, in case, the judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Court No.(3), Shimla, H.P., against the petitioner-accused and which was further affirmed by learned Appellate Court vide judgment dated 01.09.2014, is quashed and set-aside and she may be acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 138 of the Act.
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9. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the respondent-Bank and gone through the material available on record.
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10. Having taken note of the fact that the petitioner-
accused and the complainant-Bank (respondent) have settled the matter and the complainant-Bank has no objection in compounding the offence, therefore, this Court of sees no impediment in accepting the prayer made on behalf of the accused-petitioner for compounding of offence while rt exercising power under Section 147 of the Act as well as in terms of guidelines issued by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Damodar S. Prabhu V. Sayed Babalal H., (2010) 5 SCC 663, wherein the Hon'ble Apex Court has held as under:-
"10. At present, we are of course concerned with Section 147 of the Act, which reads as follows:-
"147. Offences to be compoundable-
Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every offence punishable under this Act shall be compoundable."
At this point, it would be apt to clarify that in view of the non-obstante clause, the compounding of offences under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is controlled by Section 147 and the scheme contemplated by Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter "CrPC") will not be applicable in the strict sense since the latter is meant for the specified offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
11. So far as the CrPC is concerned, Section 320 deals with offences which are compoundable, either by the parties without the leave of the court or by the parties but only with the leave of the Court. Sub-section (1) of Section 320 enumerates the offences which 9 are compoundable without the leave of the Court, while ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 7 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) subsection (2) of the said section specifies the offences which are compoundable with the leave of the Court.
12. Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 is in the nature of an enabling provision which provides for the compounding of offences prescribed under the same Act, thereby serving as an exception to the general rule incorporated in sub-section (9) of .
Section 320 of the CrPC which states that 'No offence shall be compounded except as provided by this Section'. A bare reading of this provision would lead us to the inference that offences punishable under laws other than the Indian Penal Code also cannot be compounded. However, since Section 147 was inserted by way of an amendment to a special law, the same will override the effect of Section 320(9) of the CrPC, especially keeping in mind that Section 147 carries a non obstante clause."
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11. In K. Subramanian Vs. R. Rajathi; (2010) 15 Supreme Court Cases 352, it has been held by the rt Hon'ble Apex Court that in view of the provisions contained in Section 147 of the Act read with Section 320 of Cr.P.C., compromise arrived at can be accepted even after recording of the judgment of conviction. The relevant portion of the judgment is reproduced as under:-
"6. Thereafter a compromise was entered into and the petitioner claims that he has paid Rs. 4,52,289 to the respondent. In support of this claim, the petitioner has produced an affidavit sworn by him on 1.12.2008. The petitioner has also produced an affidavit sworn by P. Kaliappan, Power of attorney holder of R. Rajathi on 1.12.2008 mentioning that he has received a sum of Rs.
4,52,289 due under the dishonoured cheques in full discharge of the value of cheques and he is not willing to prosecute the petitioner.
7. The learned counsel for the petitioner states at the Bar that the petitioner was arrested on 30.7.2008 and has undergone the sentence imposed on him by the trial Court and confirmed by the Sessions Court, the High Court as well as by this Court. The two affidavits sought to be produced by the petitioner as additional documents would indicate that indeed a compromise has taken place between the petitioner and the respondent and the respondent has accepted the compromise offered by the petitioner pursuant to which he has received a sum of Rs.4,52,289. In the affidavit filed by the respondent a ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 8 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) prayer is made to permit the petitioner to compound the offence and close the proceedings.
8. Having regard to the salutary provisions of Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act read with Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, this Court is of the opinion that in view of the compromise arrived at between the parties, the petitioner should be permitted to .
compound the offence committed by him under Section 138 of the Code."
12. Since, in the instant case, the petitioner-accused after being convicted under Section 138 of the Act, has compromised the matter with the complainant, prayer for of compounding the offence can be accepted in terms of the aforesaid judgments passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court.
13. rt Therefore, in view of the detailed discussion made hereinabove as well as law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court, the application is allowed and matter is ordered to be compounded.
14. Accordingly, the present matter is ordered to be compounded and the impugned judgment of conviction, dated 24.06.2011, and order of sentence, dated 29.06.2011, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, H.P. in Case No. 133-3 of 2010/08, and affirmed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Shimla, H.P., in Criminal Appeal No. RBT-31-S/10 of 2014/2011, vide judgment dated 01.09.2014, are quashed and set-aside and the petitioner-accused is acquitted of the charge framed ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS 9 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 ) against her under Section 138 of the Act. Bail bonds, if any, stand discharged.
15. Undisputedly, the total amount of the cheque is .
Rs.18,400/-, however, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is a poor lady and the imposition of compounding fee may be reduced.
16. In case K. Subramanian vs. R. Rajathi (supra), of the Hon'ble Apex Court had issued the guidelines with respect to the imposition of compounding fee, which read as under:-
rt "THE GUIDELINES
(i) In the circumstances, it is proposed as follows:
(a) That directions can be given that the writ of summons be suitably modified making it clear to the accused that he could make an application for compounding of the offences at the first or second hearing of the case and that if such an application is made, compounding may be allowed by the Court without imposing any costs on the accused.
(b) If the accused does not make an application for compounding as aforesaid, then if an application for compounding is made before the Magistrate at a subsequent stage, compounding can be allowed subject to the condition that the accused will be required to pay 10% of the cheque amount to be deposited as a condition for compounding with the Legal Services Authority, or such authority as the Curt deems fit.
(c) Similarly, if the application for compounding is made before the Sessions Court or a High Court in revision or appeal, such compounding may be allowed on the condition that the accused pays 15% of the cheque amount by way of costs.::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS
10 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:38909 )
(d) Finally, if the application for compounding is made before the Supreme Court, the figure would increase to 20% of the cheque amount.
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
25. The graded scheme for imposing costs is a means to encourage compounding at an early .
stage of litigation. In the status quo, valuable time of the court is spent on the trial of these cases and the parties are not liable to pay any court fee since the proceedings are governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, even though the impact of the offence is largely confined to the private parties. Even though the imposition of costs by the competent court is a matter of discretion, the scale of costs has been suggested of in the interest of uniformity. The competent court can of course reduce the costs with regard to the specific facts and circumstances of a case, while recording reasons in writing for such variance. Bona fide litigants should of course contest the rt proceedings to their logical end."
17. Therefore, taking into consideration the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court (supra) and the financial condition of the petitioner, since the competent Courts can reduce the compounding fee with regard to the specific facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioner is directed to deposit token compounding fee of Rs.2,000/- (rupees two thousand) only with the H.P. State Legal Services Authority, Shimla, H.P., within four weeks from today.
18. The petition stands disposed of accordingly, so also the pending miscellaneous application(s), if any.
( Sushil Kukreja ) th 18 November, 2025 Judge (virender) ::: Downloaded on - 05/12/2025 22:17:45 :::CIS