Senior Assistant Secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was sentenced to one-year imprisonment in a cheque dishonour case (File) Senior Assistant Secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was sentenced to one-year imprisonment in a cheque dishonour case (File) Senior Assistant Secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was sentenced to one-year imprisonment in a cheque dishonour case, worth Rs 6 lakh, by the district court here on Thursday. The court has also ordered the convict, weho has even been granted bail, to pay Rs 6 lakh to the complainant. The convict, Murari Lal Bhatt, Senior Assistant Secretary, Criminal Branch of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, by the court of Parveen Kumar, Civil Judge, Junior Division. The complainant, Anil Bansal, Assistant Registrar in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, stated in his complaint that he came in contact with Bhatt while in service and the relationship was quite friendly. In January 2015, Bhatt requested the complainant for a friendly loan of Rs 2 lakh and stated that he was in dire need of money for his house and would return the amount as soon as possible. So, in good faith, Bansal gave Rs 2 lakh to Bhatt after withdrawing money from his account and that of his wife. After this, Bhatt again requested Bansal for a further loan of Rs 4 lakh in May 2015. And, the complainant duly obliged. According to Bansal, in June 2015, Bhatt again requested for a loan of Rs 4 lakh promising to return it in a year. So, after taking a personal loan from the Punjab State Co-Operative Bank and withdrawing some amount from his account and that of his wife, he gave the money to Bhatt in June 2015. Bhatt again took Rs 2 lakh more from Bansal. In March 2016, Bansal requested Bhatt to return the Rs 12 lakh he had taken from him. Bhatt then gave two cheques, worth Rs 2 lakh each, to Bansal and said that he would return the remaining Rs 8 lakh in April 2016. When Bansal presented the cheques on March 15, 2016, at the State Bank of Patiala, Punjab and Haryana High Court branch, he was shocked to receive the memo with the remarks, Payment Stopped By Drawer. Bansal then called Bhatt and informed him that the cheque had bounced. Bansal mentioned in his complaint that the accused Bhatt kept stalling on some pretext or the other and in December 2016, requested Bansal for some more time due to demonetisation and promised to pay the money in January 2017. On being approached by Bansal again, Bhatt issued a cheque of Rs 6 lakh in January 2017 and gave three more post-dated cheques of Rs 2 lakh each to Bansal. The complainant then submitted a cheque of Rs 6 lakh on April 8, 2017, and was surprised to receive the dishonoured memo with remarks, Funds Insufficient, the accused then asked Bansal to present the cheque after April 15, 2017, and it would be honored then. Bansal then presented the cheque on April 18, 2017, and again got a memo with the remarks, Funds Insufficient. So, Bansal lodged the complaint under Section 138 in the district courts. Bhatt’s counsel Gurdit Saini said, “Bhatt has been bailed out by the court and we will appeal against the order in the upper court.” For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

Stay updated with all the Chandigarh Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.