Page No.# 1/3 GAHC010152002025 2025:GAU-AS:10181 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : Crl.L.P./34/2025 BHARGAB KAUSHIK S/O. GIRINDRA NATH SARMA, R/O. TIHU WARD NO. 1 (BIDYANAGAR), P/O. AND P/S. TIHU, DIST. NALBARI, ASSAM, PIN-781371. VERSUS DILIP KUMAR BHAGABATI S/O. LT. GUNESWAR BHAGABATI, R/O. VILL.- NO. 2 NATHKUCHI, P/O. ASSAM SYNTEX, P/S. TIHU, DIST. NALBARI, ASSAM, PN-781355. Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N K KALITA, Advocate for the Respondent : , BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY ORDER 04.08.2025 Heard Mr. N.K. Kalita, learned counsel for the petitioner. 2. The instant criminal leave petition was filed under Section 419[4] of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita [BNSS], 2023 seeking leave to prefer an appeal against the Judgment dated 15.05.2025 passed by the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Tihu, Nalbari in Page No.# 2/3 N.I. Case no. 01/2022. 3. The petitioner herein as the complainant instituted the proceedings of N.I. Case no. 01/2022 before the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Tihu, Nalbari [‘the Trial Court’] by way of a complaint alleging commission of an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, as amended. The Trial Court on conclusion of the proceedings, has acquitted the accused by the Judgment dated 15.05.2025. 4. The petitioner as the appellant has preferred the accompanying criminal appeal under the afore-quoted provisions of Section 419[4] of BNSS, 2023 against the Judgment dated 15.05.2025 passed by the Court of learned Trial Court in N.I Case no. 01/2022. 5. In a recent decision in Celestium Financial vs. A Gnanasekaran Etc, 2025 INSC 804, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has framed the following questions :- 2.1. The central issue arising for adjudication in the instant appeals is, whether an appeal would be maintainable under the proviso to Section 372 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 [for short, ‘Cr.PC’] against an order of acquittal passed in a case instituted upon a private complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 [for short, ‘the Act’], by treating the complainant in such a proceeding as a victim within the meaning ascribed to the term under Section 2 [wa] of the Cr.PC. 6. 6. Answering the question, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in paragraph 10 of the said judgment has held that the victim of offence has the right to prefer an appeal under the proviso to Section 372 of the CrPC, irrespective of whether he is a complainant or not. Even if the victim of an offence is a complainant, he can still proceed under the proviso to Section 372 and need not advert to sub-section [4] of Section 378 of the CrPC. 7. The provisions of Section 413 and Section 419[4] of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 [‘the BNSS’] are pari-materia to the provisions of Section 372 and Section 378[4] of the CrPC. Page No.# 3/3 8. Therefore, the petitioner herein has the option of preferring an appeal under the proviso to Section 413 of the BNSS. 9. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner will opt for preferring an appeal under the proviso to Section 413 of the BNSS. 10. In view of the proposition of law laid down in the afore-stated manner and the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the leave petition and the connected appeal are disposed of, reserving the liberty to the petitioner to prefer an appeal before the appropriate appellate forum. JUDGE Comparing Assistant