This is an appeal preferred by the appellant
under Section 374 (3) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure against the impugned judgment and
sentence passed in C.C.No.5446/ 2018 by the Court
of the learned XII Additional Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Bengaluru, on 6.02.2024 for the offence
punishable under Sec.138 of the Negotiable
Instruments Act.
2. The parties shall be referred to the ranks
held by them before the learned trial Court for the
sake of convenience, clarity and to avoid confusion.
3. The legacy of this case in a nut shell could
be summarised as follows:
3a) The complainant had presented the
complaint under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure alleging offence punishable under Section
138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The
complainant claims to be residing along with her
parents and brothers in the house, the address which
is furnished in the cause title. The accused and her
husband are said to be living in the ground floor as
tenants for the period between 2004 and 2012. The
husband of the accused is said to be an employed in
the Medical Protocol Department at the High Court of
Karnataka, Bengaluru. The couple were well known
to the complainant. The couple had vacated the
house during 2013. Even after vacating the house,
the couple are said to be visiting the house of the
complainant frequently. The accused and her
husband are said to be carrying on chit fund
business. The accused and her husband using their
acquaintances are alleged to have stealthily induced
the complainant to invest money in the chit fund
business being carried on by them. The accused
couple were in a financial crisis and hence, are said
to have approached the complainant seeking hand
loan promising to repay the amount with interest at
Rs.24 % p.a on or before 20.12.2014. The husband
of the accused is said to have assured of a
Government job in Bengaluru. The complainant
asserts to have lent Rs.17,08,200-00 in installments
on various dates. The particulars of which are
furnished herein below;