Sindh PTI chief’s brother jailed in cheque dishonour case

A judicial magistrate has sentenced Hameem Adil, brother of Sindh Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf President Haleem Adil Sheikh, to two years in prison in a cheque dishonour case.

Hameem was found guilty of dishonestly issuing a cheque amounting to Rs480,000 as rent for a bungalow he rented in DHA Phase VI, which was dishonoured in 2020.

Judicial Magistrate (South) Rijhoo Mal pronounced his judgment after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides. He ruled that the prosecution had successfully proved its case against the accused who had "dishonestly" issued the cheque, committing an offence punishable under the Section 489-F (dishonestly issuing a cheque) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

"But before awarding him the punishment, I would like to point out that the accused seems to be a first offender having no previous criminal record at his credit, thus he deserves some leniency," the magistrate observed, sentencing him to two-year imprisonment.

The convict was ordered to pay a Rs20,000 fine or undergo an additional two more months in case of failure to pay that. The magistrate cancelled his bail and remanded him to jail to serve out the sentence.

According to the prosecution, a man, Hammad Tahir, had rented out a bungalow in DHA Phase VI to Hameem, signing a tenancy agreement on February 28, 2020. The accused issued a number of cheques, one of which dated August 5, 2020 was dishonoured due to insufficient funds, it stated.

The prosecution said the cheque amounting to Rs480,000 was intended to cover the rent for the months of August and September 2020.

In his statement under the Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused, however, admitted that he issued the cheque in question as security but claimed that it was not done dishonestly.

He stated that he had paid the rent in advance in the form of both cash and cheques, which were successfully cleared. He further explained that he issued the cheque as a security for future payment, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it could not be cashed.

An FIR was lodged at the Eidgah police station under the Section 489-F of the PPC on the complaint of Tahir's general manager Naeemuddin Khan.