Presumption of consideration rebutted where money lender failed to keep accounts and note execution was not proved.

A money lender's failure to maintain and produce accounts as required by the Kerala Money Lenders Act justified an adverse inference, and the statutory presumption of consideration under the Negotiable Instruments Act stood rebutted. The surrounding evidence of prior chit fund dealings, an admitted outstanding balance, and the fact that the suit notes and related documents appeared to have been filled up together in the same handwriting and ink showed that the alleged cash advances were not proved. The promissory notes were therefore not established as supported by consideration, and the suit could not be sustained on the evidence.

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Issues: Whether the suit promissory notes were shown to have been executed for consideration and were enforceable, or whether the surrounding circumstances, including the money lender's failure to maintain accounts and the nature of the transactions, rebutted the statutory presumption and justified dismissal of the suit.

Analysis: The respondent admitted to money lending activity and was bound under Section 9 of the Kerala Money Lenders Act, 1958 to maintain books of account. His failure to produce accounts, coupled with the assertion that the dealings were unaccounted transactions, justified an adverse inference. Although Section 118 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 raises a presumption of consideration, that presumption stood rebutted by the evidence of pre-existing chit fund dealings, the admitted outstanding amount in those dealings, and the circumstance that the suit notes and other documents appeared to have been filled up at the same time in the same handwriting and ink. The claim that the amounts were advanced in cash in separate transactions was not accepted.

Conclusion: The promissory notes were not proved to have been supported by consideration, and the suit was not maintainable on the evidence.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a money lender fails to maintain and produce accounts as required by law, and the surrounding evidence rebut the presumption of consideration under the Negotiable Instruments Act, a decree cannot be sustained on alleged unaccounted and unenforceable transactions.

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