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High Court of Gujarat

MATHURIBEN THAKARSHIBHAI DALWADIversusSTATE OF GUJARAT

Disposal
97-DISPOSED AS TRANSFER TO DISTRICT/SESSION COURT N.I. ACT.

Holding

The appeal must be transferred to the Sessions Court as an appeal under the proviso of Section 372 CrPC (or Section 413 BNSS).

Summary

The complainant appealed the trial court's acquittal of the accused under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The appeal was filed under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 419 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita. The High Court referred to its recent decision in Shivsinh Ganpatsinh Solanki v. State of Gujarat, which held that a victim‑complainant has a specific right to appeal under the proviso of Section 372 of the CrPC (or Section 413 of the BNSS) to the Sessions Court. Accordingly, the Court declined to consider the merits and ordered the appeal to be transferred to the appropriate Sessions Court, directing the Registry to send the complete record. The order emphasized the need for speedy disposal by the lower appellate court.

Issues considered

  • The appropriate statutory provision for appealing an acquittal under Section 138 NI Act – whether under Section 378 CrPC or the proviso of Section 372 CrPC/Section 413 BNSS.

Legislation cited

Subjects

acquittal appealSection 138 NI Acttransfer of appealSection 372 CrPCSection 413 BNSSvictim's right to appealcriminal procedurejurisdiction

Judgment

      R/CR.A/176/2019                                   ORDER DATED: 28/04/2026




            IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

      R/CRIMINAL APPEAL (AGAINST ACQUITTAL) NO. 176 of 2019

==========================================================
                    MATHURIBEN THAKARSHIBHAI DALWADI
                                 Versus
                        STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
==========================================================
Appearance:
MR TEJAS D SHUKLA(5312) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR HIREN P VYAS(2269) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 2
MS SEJAL H VYAS(3211) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 2
MS. DIVYANGANA JHALA, APP for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 1
==========================================================

 CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE SANJEEV J.THAKER

                               Date : 28/04/2026

                                ORAL ORDER


1.              This is an acquittal appeal filed under Section 378

of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred

to as ‘the Code’           for short) / under Section 419 of the

Bharatiya         Nagrik     Suraksha        Sanhita,     2023       (hereinafter

referred to as ‘BNSS’ for short) by the complainant against

the judgment and order impugned passed by the learned trial

Court, whereby the learned trial Court had acquitted the

respondent/s/accused of the charge under Section 138 of the

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (hereinafter referred to as

the ‘NI Act’ for short).



2.              Heard learned advocate for the parties. Learned

APP     has      submitted    that    this     matter   is   required       to    be

transferred in view of the recent                  decision of this Court



                                     Page 1 of 3
     R/CR.A/176/2019                                         ORDER DATED: 28/04/2026




passed in Criminal Misc. Application No.12753 of 2019 with

Criminal Misc. Application No.12908 of 2019.



3.               Before entering into the merits of this case, this

Court deems it proper to refer to the latest decision rendered

by this Court in the case of Shivsinh Ganpatsinh Solanki V/s

State      of    Gujarat        &    Anr.       being   Criminal      Miscellaneous
Application Nos. 12753 of 2019 with 12908 of 2019 on
23.12.2025, wherein, after considering the various judgments
of   the        Hon’ble       Supreme          Court,   more     particularly,         the

judgment         in    the     matter     of    M/s Celestium Financial V/s
A.Gyanasekaran               etc.   reported       in   2025    INSC        804,       has

observed and held that the Complainant, in a complaint

under Section 138 of the N.I. Act, being a Victim, has a

specific right to appeal under proviso of Section 372 of the

Code / Section 413 of the BNSS to the Court which is

immediately superior in hierarchy i.e., the Sessions Court.

Therefore, the applications for leave to appeal/appeal(s) which

are pending before this Court can be disposed of with a

direction       to     transfer     the    said     application/appeal(s)       to     the

concerned Sessions Court.


4.               In view of the above, learned advocate for the

petitioner requested to transfer the appeal to the concerned

Sessions Court.



                                          Page 2 of 3
       R/CR.A/176/2019                                                   ORDER DATED: 28/04/2026




5.                  In     view      of     the      said      request,         this      appeal         is

disposed of with a direction to the Registry to transfer the

appeal         to        the     concerned          Sessions          Court.         After        it     is

transferred to the concerned Sessions Court, it has to be

treated as an Appeal under the proviso under Section 372 of

the Code / Section 413 of BNSS and numbered accordingly.

The Registry is directed to transfer the entire record of the

case, including the certified copies of the order impugned and

record       &      proceedings,           if     lying       with      this      Court,        to     the

concerned lower Appellate Court, forthwith.


6.                  Considering that the matter has been pending for

considerable             time,     the      learned           lower      Appellate          Court        is

required to make endeavour to dispose of the matter as

expeditiously as possible. It is clarified that this Court has

not gone into the merits of the matter at this stage.




                                                                        (SANJEEV J.THAKER,J)
ADITYA SINGH

 Original copy of this order has been signed by the Hon'ble Judge.
 Digitally signed by: ADITYA SINGH(HC02376), ENGLISH STENO GRADE-II\, at High Court of Gujarat on 28/04/2026 16:42:00




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