R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL) NO. 20050 of 2025 In F/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 31620 of 2025 ========================================================== HARDEEPSINH LAXMANSINH JADEJA Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR. ========================================================== Appearance: MR VIRAL J VYAS(6233) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 MR.KISHAN PRAJAPATI(7074) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 MS. C.M SHAH, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO Date : 30/09/2025 ORAL ORDER 1. The present application is filed by the applicant – original complainant seeking leave to file an appeal against the judgement and order dated 22.05.2025 passed by the learned 17th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Special Negotiable Court No. 37, Ahmedabad (hereinafter referred to as the “learned Trial Court”) in Criminal Case No. 112473/2019, whereby the learned Trial Court has dismissed the Criminal Case for want of prosecution as the applicant did not remain present under the provisions of Section 256(3) of Cr.P.C. and the respondent no. 2 - original accused came to be acquitted from the offence under R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881 (hereinafter referred to “the NI Act” for short). 2. Heard learned advocate Mr. Pundreek Odedara for learned advocate Mr. Viral Vyas for the applicant and learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah for the respondent State. 3. Learned advocate Mr. Pundreek Odedara for the applicant submits the applicant and the respondent no. 2 were friends and due to their friendship, the respondent no. 2 had taken financial assistance from the applicant on a number of occasion. On 18.08.2017, the respondent no. 2 borrowed an amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- from the applicant and issued cheque no. 457834 dated 22.07.2019 for Rs. 1,00,000/- from his account with The Navnirman Cooperative Bank Ltd., Naroda Branch. The cheque was deposited by the applicant in his account with Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank Ltd, Vastral Branch but the cheque returned unpaid with the endorsement “Funds Insufficient”. The demand statutory notice was given and even though the notice was served, the respondent no. 2 did R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 not given any reply and did not repay the amount within the stipulated period and hence, the applicant filed a criminal complaint under Section 138 of the NI Act before the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad on 18.12.2019 which came to be registered as Criminal Case No. 112473/2019. The learned Trial Court was pleased to take cognizance of the offence and issued summons to the respondent no. 2 and the summons were returnable on 03.03.2020. The summons were not served to the respondent no. 2 and the rojkaam does not reflect whether the summons were issued and returned served or unserved to the learned Trial Court. Thereafter, due to pandemic of Covid-19, the Courts were closed and the applicant was not intimated about the date of the case. Learned advocate submits that along with the complaint, the applicant had filed his examination in chief at Exh. 4 and had submitted all the documents on which he relied upon filed at Exh. 6 and had also given an application at Exh. 5 for exhibiting the documents but without passing any order on the application at Exh. 5 and without appreciating the evidence R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 on record, the learned Trial Court was pleased to pass the impugned order on 22.05.2025 merely as the case was a “targetted case”. Learned advocate submits that the applicant has a good case on merits and from the evidence on record, the offence under Section 138 of the NI Act was proved beyond reasonable doubts but the same was not considered by the learned Trial Court and hence, the application seeking leave to appeal is required to be allowed. 4. Learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah for the respondent State has submitted that the learned Trial Court has considered the absence of the applicant and has passed the impugned order of acquittal considering the settled principles of law and hence, the leave to appeal may not be granted. 5. Considering the submissions of learned advocate for the applicant as also on perusal of the rojkaam produced on record, it appears that the case was filed on 16.12.2019 and thereafter, the rojkaam does not reflect as to whether the summons were actually issued and sent to the concerned Police Station for service of summons to the respondent no. R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 2. The respondent no. 2 has not appeared and the rojkaam would reflect that the dates have been mentioned one below the other and on 04.01.2024, the stamp of the rojkaam does not clearly reflect whether the complainant of his advocate were present or absent, or whether the accused and his advocate were present or absent but it suggests that a notice was issued to the complainant thereafter, there is nothing reflected in the rojkaam as to whether the notice was actually served or unserved and considering the fact that the Courts were closed due to pandemic of Covid-19, without waiting for the summons to be served to the accused or the notice to the complainant, merely as the case was a “targetted case”, the impugned order has been passed. Moreover, the affidavit of examination in chief and documentary evidences were also on record and no order has been passed on the application at Exh. 5 for exhibiting the documents and the learned Trial Court has not considered the same and has passed the impugned order. 6. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case in the considered opinion of this Court the application R/CR.MA/20050/2025 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2025 deserves to be considered. Consequently, the application seeking leave to appeal is granted and disposed off accordingly. (S. V. PINTO,J) VASIM S. SAIYED Original copy of this order has been signed by the Hon'ble Judge. Digitally signed by: VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902), PRIVATE SECRETARY, at High Court of Gujarat on 30/09/2025 15:50:58