New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has ordered the High Court that in a criminal appeal, it cannot reverse the acquittal without affording any opportunity of hearing the accused to argue on the concerned matter on his/ her behalf.
The bench comprising of Justices R. Banumathi and AS Bopanna issued a notice that in the absence of the counsel for the accused, the High court should not have decided on the appeal on merits.
In this concerned case, the respondent K Vijayakumar filed a complaint against the appellant-accused Christopher Raj over "insufficient fund" and not "as time-barred cheque".
The High court had reversed the acquittal of the accused, Christopher raj and declared him guilty under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. A fine of Rs. 60,000 has also been imposed in default with simple imprisonment for six months.
The High Court erred in reversing the acquittal without affording any opportunity to appellant-accused to argue the matter on his behalf.
The case has been remitted to the Madras High court to consider the matter afresh. The appellant should appear before the Madurai Bench of Madras High court on August 26, 2019.
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