Negotiable Instruments Act, 1882; Section 138 & 147- Section 147 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 makes all offences under NI Act compoundable offences – Settlement agreement can be treated to be compounding of the offence – All the same, Section 320 (5) of CrPC provides that if compounding has to be done after conviction, then it can only be done with the leave of the Court where appeal against such conviction is pending- In cases where the accused relies upon some document for compounding the offence at the appellate stage, courts shall try to check the veracity of such document, which can be done in multiple ways – Dishonour of cheques is a regulatory offence which was made an offence only in view of public interest so that the reliability of these instruments can be ensured – A large number of cases involving dishonour of cheques are pending before courts which is a serious concern for our judicial system. Keeping in mind that the ‘compensatory aspect’ of remedy shall have priority over the ‘punitive aspect’, courts should encourage compounding of offences under the NI Act if parties are willing to do so. (Para 4-7)