Material alteration in a cheque without drawer consent cannot sustain a cheque dishonour conviction.

A cheque bearing an unauthorised alteration in the date column was treated as materially altered because it changed the instrument's operation by postponing or changing the date of payment. Under Section 87 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, a material alteration made without the drawer's consent renders the instrument void against the non-consenting party unless it is shown to reflect the common intention of the original parties. As no such consent, authentication, or common intention was proved, the conviction under Section 138 could not stand. The concurrent findings were set aside and the accused was acquitted.

---

---

Issues: Whether the concurrent findings convicting the accused for the offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 were perverse or erroneous in view of the material alteration in the cheque.

Analysis: The cheque bore an alteration in the date column, and the drawee bank manager admitted that there was an alteration in the date of the cheque. The alteration was found to affect the operation of the instrument by postponing or changing the date of payment. Under Section 87 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, a material alteration made without the consent of the drawer renders the instrument void against the party who did not consent to it, unless it was made to carry out the common intention of the original parties. No material showed that the alteration was made with such common intention or that the drawer authenticated it. The conviction recorded by the trial court and affirmed in appeal was therefore held to be unsustainable.

Conclusion: The concurrent findings were set aside and the accused was acquitted, as the materially altered cheque could not sustain the prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Ratio Decidendi: A material alteration in a negotiable instrument, made without the consent or authentication of the party bound by it and not shown to be in furtherance of the common intention of the original parties, renders the instrument void and cannot support a conviction under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

---