A Magistrate convicted an accused for dishonour of a cheque of Rs. 1,00,000. As per Section 395 of the…

Under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the fine for dishonour of a cheque can extend to twice the cheque amount, so for a cheque of Rs.1,00,000 the Magistrate can impose a fine up to Rs.2,00,000, and under section 395(1)(b) of the BNSS (formerly section 357(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973) he can direct that Rs.1,00,000 of that fine be paid to the complainant as compensation. A separate compensation order under section 395(3) is possible only where fine does not form part of the sentence, so compensation over and above the fine is not the answer.