A city court has come to the rescue of a civil aviation employee awarded a three-month jail term along with the payment of compensation of Rs 1.2 lakh in a cheques bounce case. Ram Niwas Yadav,who worked as an upper divisional clerk with the Director General of Civil Aviation,was held guilty under the Negotiable Instruments Act for handing over bad cheques to the Punjab National Bank in 2006. The cheques were dishonoured due to insufficient funds in his bank account and the bank then approached the court. Adopting a lenient view,Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar modified a magistrate order of penal punishment and said the interests of justice would be fully served by confining Yadavs punishment to payment of the fine. In an order in April last year,the magistrate sentenced Yadav to three months in prison and levied the fine of Rs 1.2 lakh. Yadav had filed an appeal in the sessions court. He contended that no purpose was to be served by jailing him when he had already complied with the directive to pay the monetary penalty. During the hearing,the bank also supported Yadavs views and said that when they had received the money,there was no reason in pressing for a jail term. The sentence of imprisonment is unnecessarily harsh on Yadav,who is a middle-aged government servant with a family to look after. He is under great mental stress and trauma. Moreover,when he has already made the payment,no purpose will be served in sending him to jail. Not only the appellant,his entire family will also come on the road, ASJ Kumar said while allowing Yadavs plea.
