Signed blank cheque doctrine: admitted execution and Section 20 authority defeat demand for handwriting-expert examination.

A signed and delivered blank or incomplete cheque is treated as an inchoate instrument under Section 20 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, giving the holder prima facie authority to complete the remaining particulars. Where execution of the cheque is admitted, the drawer cannot demand handwriting-expert examination under Section 45 of the Evidence Act merely to test who filled in the entries, because the legal effect of the statutory authority is decisive. The High Court held that such expert examination was unwarranted and that the revisional court erred in allowing it.

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Issues: Whether, in respect of a signed blank or incomplete cheque, the drawer's admitted signature and the operation of Section 20 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 exclude the need for handwriting-expert examination of the remaining entries under Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Analysis: Section 20 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 treats a signed and delivered blank or incomplete negotiable instrument as an inchoate instrument and gives the holder prima facie authority to complete it. Once execution of the cheque is admitted, the instrument remains legally enforceable, and the maker cannot insist on expert examination merely to test who filled in the remaining particulars. The accused's own defence that the cheque was signed and later filled by the complainant does not negate the statutory authority of the holder to complete the instrument, and the dispute does not turn on a presumption but on the legal effect of such authority.

Conclusion: The request for handwriting-expert examination was not warranted, and the revisional court erred in allowing the application under Section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

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