The High Court has observed that an accused in a cheque dishonour case filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act should not be sentenced to imprisonment or sent to jail if the full outstanding amount mentioned in the cheque has been paid and the parties have reached a settlement.

The court said the main objective of a cheque dishonour case is not to punish or imprison anyone, but to ensure recovery of the money owed.

The observation came in the full text of a High Court judgment published on September 9, three days after the judgment was delivered on September 6.

Advocate Md Zisan Mahmud, assisted by Advocate Tasnuva Kaiser, appeared for BRAC Microfinance. Deputy Attorney General Md Mizanur Rahman and Assistant Attorney General Md Sirajul Karim (Robi) represented the state.

Reacting to the judgment, Advocate Md Zisan Mahmud said, "Through this judgment, the court has set a unique example of a humane approach alongside legal justice. Our main objective was to recover the outstanding dues, not to punish anyone. Since the appellant had paid the entire amount, we took a positive stance on waiving his imprisonment from a magnanimous perspective."

Justice Md Bashir Ullah of the High Court delivered the judgment while disposing of a criminal appeal filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The decision was given on September 6 in the case of Md Abdul Hannan Master vs the State and others.

The High Court cancelled the convicted person's one-year imprisonment and ordered that the money deposited with the lower court before the appeal was filed be handed over to the complainant institution.

According to the case details, Md Abdul Hannan Master, a resident of Sirajganj, took a 50,000 taka loan from BRAC Microfinance. He repaid 21,875 taka and issued a cheque for the outstanding 28,125 taka.

The cheque was dishonoured on February 10, 2009, due to "insufficient funds".

As the money was not paid despite a legal notice, a CR case was filed in 2009.

On March 19, 2013, the Sirajganj Sessions Judge's Court completed the trial in the absence of the accused and sentenced him to one year of rigorous imprisonment and fined him 84,375 taka.

Hannan Master filed a criminal appeal with the High Court in 2018 against the judgment and secured bail.

While the appeal was pending, he paid all the dues owed to BRAC Microfinance. The two parties also signed a formal compromise agreement on July 21 this year.

Considering that the appellant had paid the full amount mentioned in the cheque, the High Court cancelled Hannan Master's imprisonment.

However, it upheld his conviction and reduced the fine from 84,375 taka to 28,125 taka, equivalent to the principal amount of the cheque.

The court directed that the 14,100 taka deposited by the appellant with the trial court be handed over to BRAC Microfinance immediately, subject to proper identification.

As the outstanding dues had been fully recovered through the amount directly paid by the accused and the money deposited with the court, the court waived his imprisonment.