A magistrate court here in Maharashtra has handed a 'till rising of the court' sentence to a builder in a cheque bounce case and imposed a Rs 41.44 lakh fine. A person given the ‘rising of the court' sentence is not allowed to leave the court till it concludes for the day.
Judicial Magistrate First Class, Thane, Harish Pardeshi, convicted Anil Thakurdas Kursija under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. He will have to face imprisonment for two more months if he fails to pay the fine in a month.
The order was passed on January 5 and the copy was made available on Saturday.
Kursija is currently lodged in a jail in another case.
A case was filed against a construction firm in which Kursija is a partner by a Thane-based businessman in November 2016 for not handing him the possession of a flat in their project despite making full payment, as per the prosecution.
The complainant had paid Rs 14.99 lakh towards the purchase of the flat, according to the prosecution.
As the possession was delayed by the builder, the complainant demanded a refund. The construction firm agreed to pay the interest but failed to do so. After negotiations, cheques of Rs 38,21,000 were issued by the firm but they were dishonoured, the court was told.
"This is an economic offence and the complainant has already suffered the consequence of dishonour of the cheques. Therefore and considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the present economic condition of the accused, simple imprisonment till the rising of the court and the fine at 9 per cent on the remaining amount seems to be justified and would suffice the purpose," the judge noted.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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