Home Case Index All Cases Indian Laws Indian Laws + HC Indian Laws - 2022 (6) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2022 (6) TMI 910 - PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURTDishonor of Cheque - validity of cheque - application filed by the petitioner/accused to examine the fingerprint and handwriting expert has been dismissed - HELD THAT:- The application in question had been moved for examining the fingerprint and handwriting expert to compare the handwriting of the signatures and the handwriting in which the remaining particulars of the cheque were filled in as the ink used in affixing signatures on the cheque in question was different from the ink used in filling the remaining particulars of the cheque in question. The response of the complainant therein was that a complaint was filed on 10.10.2014 and the application had been moved after almost five years on 24.07.2019 with a view to delay the trial one way or the other. A perusal of the judgments in T. Nagappa [2008 (4) TMI 789 - SUPREME COURT], would clearly establish that when a contention is raised that the complainant has misused the cheque by filling up the body of the same, even in a case, where a presumption can be raised under Section 118(a) or 139 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, an opportunity must be granted to the accused for adducing evidence in rebuttal thereof. As the law places burden on the accused, he must be given an opportunity to discharge it. The complainant will invariably not disclose that the body of the cheque has been filled up by him or at his instance even where the signatures on the cheque has been accepted by the accused. Without doubt, the holder of the cheque has the authority to fill the same and the cheque would be a valid instrument but to start with, the first step available with an accused to rebut the presumption that the cheque had been issued for the discharge of a legally enforceable debt is by examining a handwriting expert to testify that the signatory and the author of the body of the cheque are different persons. Even if the difference in writing is established, the accused will still have to rebut the presumption under the Act, that the cheque is a valid tender and that he had made the payment to the complainant but despite that fact, the complainant filled up the cheque and presented the same leading to it being dishonoured. The judgment in T. Nagappa's case [2008 (4) TMI 789 - SUPREME COURT] lays down the law more elaborately and accurately than the judgments in Bir Singh's case [2019 (2) TMI 547 - SUPREME COURT], which only reiterate the position of law that the signatory of the cheque need not filled in the body of the cheque for the cheque to be a valid cheque. The application of the petitioner-accused is allowed.
|