Admission of cheque execution and signatures on the cheque and...

Admission of cheque execution and signatures on the cheque and money receipt triggered the presumptions of consideration and legally enforceable debt under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Questions concerning the complainant's financial capacity and an alleged breach of income-tax rules on cash loans did not rebut those presumptions without cogent and reliable evidence. The cheque-dishonour conviction was therefore sustained. A succeeding Magistrate could decide the matter on evidence recorded by the predecessor because the prosecution proceeded as a summons trial, not a summary trial; the statutory restriction on successor Magistrates was consequently inapplicable. The criminal revision was dismissed, and surrender was directed for the remaining sentence.