Delhi court has sentenced a businessman to six months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on him, saying no leniency is called for in such cases.

Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja jailed Delhi-based cloth merchant Ravinder Kumar, rejecting his plea for release on probation after payment of fine, saying that cheque bouncing cases consume a lot of time of the court.“It is necessary to mention that offence of dishonour of cheque, punishable under Negotiable Instruments Act, are on the rise and in order to keep the spirit of the legislation, the accused cannot be released on probation as these offences have massive effect on the economic condition of the persons,” said the court.

“This case has been pending since year 2004 and has also consumed a lot of time of this court,” it said. Kumar had taken a loan of Rs two lakhs at 18 per cent interest rate, from a fellow cloth merchant Ramesh Goel’ firm.

Goel had alleged that Kumar’s two cheques of Rs one lakh each were dishonoured by the bank due to insufficient funds in his account and he had failed to clear the dues despite service of legal notices demanding repayment of loan with interest.

Goel produced all documents relating to the loan and bounced cheques and was able to satisfy the court that his case was based on true facts. he court held Kumar guilty under the Negotiable Instruments Act.