A man has to cough up Rs 55 lakh for wrongfully encashing a cheque of Rs 2,242 in 1994, according to a report by News18.
The Supreme Court stated that it would consider to drop criminal charges against Mahendra Kumar Sharda but only after he agrees to pay Rs 5 lakh as penalty for engaging the judicial system for two decades, along with Rs 50 lakh as the settlement amount that was agreed upon with the complainant.
Sharda worked as a manager till 1992 with Hari Om Maheshwari, who at the time worked at the Delhi Stock Exchange. In 1997, Maheshwari filed a complaint against Sharda alleging that he encashed a cheque, meant for Maheshwari, by opening a bank account in the name of the latter's firm.
While Sharda originally contested the charges, he later accepted them and chose for settlement. However, the Delhi High Court did not quash the charges against him due to the grave nature of the crime.
Sharda then moved to the Supreme Court and informed the apex court that he settled the matter with the complainant for Rs 50 lakh, as compared to the original sum of Rs 2,242 that was fraudulently encashed.
The court asked Sharda why it took two decades to settle the matter and decided that he must pay for the judicial time the case used up in the last two decades by levying another Rs 5 lakh on him.
The Supreme Court has asked Delhi Police regarding quashing the case altogether. The bench would hear from Delhi Police on September 15.