Sena MP Gavit gets one-year imprisonment in cheque bouncing case; directed to pay Rs 1.75 crore compensation

A court at Palghar in Maharashtra sentenced local Shiv Sena MP Rajendra Gavit to oneyear imprisonment after convicting him in a cheque bouncing case and directed him to pay the compensation of Rs 175 croreThe court of Judicial Magistrate First Class VP Khandare stayed the execution of the order for one month to allow Gavit to file an appeal and obtain orders from the appellate courtThe amount of compensation is huge and therefore in my view time can be granted to the convict for the payment of the same Therefore considering submissions made by advocates from both sides I am inclined to allow both the applications and grant time of 30 days for bringing appropriate orders from the Appellate court the court said in the orderThe order stated that the convict is released on bail upon furnishing a PR bond and surety bond of Rs 15000 each A PR or Personal Recognizance Bond is when a judge allows the defendant to be released without any deposit or collateral The court noted that the convict regularly and diligently attended hearings on the dates fixed during the trial He is sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a term of one year and pay compensation of Rs 17500000 the order statedThe case relates to land in Palghar and a dispute between Gavit and developer Chirag Bafna as per the prosecution Gavit had given the land to another developer He had also written to the district collector asking him not to grant permission to Bafna to develop the said land In 2017 Bafna filed a case against Gavit for allegedly not fulfilling the conditions of the agreement he had signed In 2019 Gavit had agreed that he had taken the money and signed the said agreement Later the MP agreed before a court that he will pay Bafna an amount of Rs 25 croreWhile a cheque of Rs 1 crore was honoured another cheque of Rs 150 crore issued by him bounced Bafna then filed a case in the court under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act Section 138 provides that when the cheque is dishonoured for insufficiency of funds or for any of the prescribed reasons the one who is at defaulter can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with a fine which may extend to twice the amount of the cheque or bothDuring the trial Gavit cited reasons like the Parliament session the Covid19 pandemic his ill health etc which delayed his submissions before the court He also submitted that as he was a tribal and pressured to sign on certain papers However the court dismissed his arguments Gavit had earlier served as the tribal development minister in the erstwhile CongressNCP alliance government in Maharashtra In 2018 he joined BJP just before the bypoll to Palghar Lok Sabha seat and won the election In 2019 he joined BJPs alliance partner Shiv Sena to contest from Palghar againThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever