Mumbai: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court of Belapur, Navi Mumbai, found M.J. Hospital and Dr. Ketan Raj, guilty under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act for issuing dishonored cheques. The court directed Dr. Raj to pay ₹17,50,000 to the complainant, Dr. Alkesh Ajmera, within two months. However, the court refrained from imposing additional punishment, citing the accused’s lack of a habitual offending history.
The court stated in its order, “The punishment of imprisonment should only be imposed on habitual offenders or in cases requiring stringent measures. In this instance, the complainant failed to prove that the accused is a habitual offender. Additionally, the complainant has spent over six years prosecuting this case. Hence, awarding the fine is appropriate.”
Dr. Alkesh Ajmera, a diagnostic and pathology lab specialist, filed the case under the NI Act against the accused. In 2014, Dr. Ajmera entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the hospital, agreeing to jointly establish and operate a state-of-the-art diagnostic and pathology laboratory.
As per the agreement, Dr. Ajmera and his associate, Dr. Rahul Jain, paid an initial deposit of ₹15 lakh via RTGS in March 2014. It was agreed that Dr. Ajmera and Dr. Jain would receive 60% of the lab’s revenue, while the hospital would retain 40%. However, despite repeated assurances, the hospital failed to operationalize the facility by the agreed deadline of April 2014.
Between 2014 and 2017, Dr. Ajmera alleged that the hospital made multiple assurances but failed to fulfill its commitments. When asked to refund the deposit, Dr. Raj issued several post-dated cheques totaling ₹17.5 lakh to Dr. Ajmera and Dr. Jain. There were three cheques’s issued, one for ₹1,50,000, while two cheques for ₹7,50,000 each.
The first cheque for ₹1,50,000 was dishonored due to insufficient funds, followed by dishonour of the subsequent ₹7,50,000 cheques with the same reason. Despite repeated requests, reminders, and legal notices, the accused did not make the payment.
In March 2018, Dr. Ajmera issued a legal notice to the hospital, demanding ₹9 lakh (the sum of the dishonored cheques) along with interest. The accused failed to respond, prompting Dr. Ajmera to file a case under the NI Act.
The court found sufficient evidence to hold Dr. Raj and the hospital guilty of issuing cheques without adequate funds and causing financial hardship to the complainant.
While delivering its verdict, the court noted , “The complainant spent over six years pursuing justice, further the accused failed to demonstrate good faith or resolve the matter amicably. However Imprisonment was deemed unnecessary as the accused were not habitual offenders, but awarding compensation to the complainant was deemed a more appropriate remedy. The court thus ordered the accused to pay ₹17,50,000 as compensation within two months.
