Businessman sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for stopping cheque payments

SRINAGAR: A local court here has sentenced a businessman to three months imprisonment for stopping payment of cheques after issuing the instrument for the purchase of goods.

Judicial Magistrate Tauseef Ahmad Magray, while disposing of an application the other day, sentenced Farooq Ahmad Sofi, a businessman from Sopore town of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir, to three months imprisonment.

Magray also imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh on Sofi which would be paid as compensation to the complainant in the case.

According to the application filed by one Dilip Kumar, a cloth merchant in Srinagar, Sofi had purchased goods worth Rs 5.60 lakh from him in 2013 and made payments through various cheques.

However, when Kumar presented the cheques for payment, he was told by the bank officials that Sofi had issued instructions to stop the payment.

The magistrate, while imposing the fine, said Sofi will have to undergo further imprisonment of one year in case he does not pay the fine amount within one month of availing of all legal remedies available to him. The magistrate cancelled Sofi’s bail and directed that he be immediately taken into custody. (PTI)