Man sentenced till rising of court in a cheque bounce case

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Suresh Chand Rajan sentenced West Delhi resident Ashwani Gupta to detention "till rising of the court," showing leniency to him because he was "the sole bread earner" of his family.

"I am of the view that the present appellant (Gupta) is the sole bread earner in his family and is neither involved in any criminal case in Delhi or in India nor he has any criminal antecedents, so it would meet the ends of justice if I alter the sentence awarded to him.

"So in the interest of justice, the one-year sentence awarded to Gupta by the trial court is converted to detention till rising of the court," ASJ Rajan said.

The judge passed its order on Gupta's plea against July 2011 order of the magistrate, who had sentenced him to a year in jail.

Convicting Ali, the court had also directed him to give a compensation of Rs 2.60 lakh to the HDFC Bank Ltd.

The prosecution said Gupta in 2008 had approached the HDFC Bank Ltd for a personal loan and he availed the loan.

In partial discharge of his liability, he issued cheque for the sum, which was returned unpaid by the payee bank with the reason 'funds insufficient'.

"Due to financial constraints in the business, Gupta could not pay the debt amount to the bank," the counsel for Gupta submitted before the court, adding that both the parties have settled the matter amicably and the compensation amount has been given to the bank.

Setting aside the magisterial court decision, the court observed that a compensation of Rs 2.60 lakh has been received by the bank and they have also "no objection if the sentence" awarded by the trial court to Gupta is "suspended".