Bounced cheques: MD of pharma firm sent to jail

A local court today sentenced the Managing Director of a pharmaceutical company to five months in jail and asked him and the firm to pay a fine of Rs 3.2 crore for issuing 16 cheques which were dishonoured.
The court sentenced Anil Bhargava, Managing Director of Paam Pharmaceuticals (Delhi) Ltd, to five months jail under the Negotiable Instruments Act and said the fine amount be given as compensation to the family of the complainant Sudesh Madhok who died during the pendency of the case.
Additional Sessions Judge Narinder Kumar modified the order on sentence of the magisterial court in which a fine of Rs 6.4 crore was imposed on the accused firm and its MD. The court said the firm and its MD will pay Rs 1.6 crore each as fine.

The pharmaceutical company and Bhargava, a resident of Civil Lines here, had moved the sessions court challenging the sentence and conviction order of the trial court.
As per the complaint, the firm and Bhargava had taken a loan from Madhok and for its repayment they had issued five cheques of Rs 10 lakh each on March 5, 1998 and 16 cheques of Rs 10 lakh each on March 7, 1998.
But when the cheques were presented in the bank for encashment, they were received back as dishonoured.
A legal notice was issued against them by Madhok but payment of Rs 2.1 crore was not made to him and the case was filed.

Madhok had filed the case regarding 16 dishonoured cheques only.