A magistrate’s court has awarded a compensation of ₹26 crore to the complainant and sentenced six partners of a real estate company to one-year simple imprisonment in a cheque bounce case.
R.D. Chougale, First Class Judicial Magistrate, Ulhasnagar, directed the seven respondents — Vinayak Enterprises and its six partners — to pay ₹3.73 crore each to the complainant, also a developer, reported PTI.
The non-payment of the compensation will invite an additional three-month imprisonment. The complainant, Gope Madhavdas Rochlani, of Madhav Construction company at Kalyan, informed the court that the respondents made an agreement with him on May 15, 2006, to grant development rights of 60 acres of land for an amount of around ₹85 crore, the report said.
The complainant reportedly said he made a payment of ₹8.5 crore to the respondents. The respondents later cancelled the deal and agreed to return the money along with profit, compensation and escalation cost of the land. They issued two cheques totalling ₹16.50 crore in August and October 2008, which bounced.
The counsels for the accused contested the case. However, the magistrate observed that the complainant has been deprived of the amount of the disputed cheques. Considering the rate of interest given by a nationalised bank on fixed deposits, it would be “just and reasonable to grant a compensation of ₹ 26.12 crore to the complainant, the magistrate was quoted as saying.
