Smt. Laksha Vinay Desai vs Smt. Shobha W/o Manjunath Devali — 1930/2025

Case Summary: C.C.No. 1930/2025 Court: Additional Senior Civil Judge & JMFC, Karwar, Uttara Kannada Judgment Date: 4 June 2026 Parties: Smt. Laksha Vinay Desai (Complainant) v. Smt. Shobha W/o Manjunath Devli (Accused) Decision The court convicted the accused under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 for issuing a cheque that was dishonoured due to insufficient funds. The accused was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 1,25,000 (the cheque amount), with the entire fine payable to the complainant as compensation. In default of payment, the accused shall undergo simple imprisonment for one year. Key Facts The complainant lent a total of Rs. 1,25,000 to the accused in multiple installments between May 2023 and March 2024. The accused issued a cheque for Rs. 1,25,000 dated 26 September 2024, which was dishonoured on 30 September 2024 for insufficient funds. Despite service of a legal notice on 25 October 2024, the accused neither paid the amount nor replied. Reasoning The court found that the complainant satisfied all statutory requirements under Section 138 of the N.I. Act and drew statutory presumptions under Sections 118 and 139 in her favour. The accused failed to adduce any credible evidence to rebut these presumptions, merely suggesting the cheque was given as security—a claim categorically denied by the complainant and unsupported by evidence. The accused neither testified in defence nor explained her position during Section 313 questioning, substantially weakening her case. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.