2020 (3) TMI 1341

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....Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. 3. When the case reached the stage of defence evidence, the petitioner filed an application as Crl.M.P. No. 10420/2018 in the trial court for sending the cheque to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram to obtain opinion regarding the handwriting of the entries in the cheque. 4. The second respondent filed objection to the aforesaid application contending that the intention of the petitioner was only to protract the case and to cause delay in the disposal of the case. 5. As per Annexure-A order, the learned Magistrate dismissed the application filed by the petitioner for sending the cheque for the opinion of the expert. The legality and the propriety of the aforesaid order are challeng....

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.... of the Negotiable Instruments Act including, in particular, Section 20, Section 87 and Section 139, makes it amply clear that a person who signs a cheque and makes it over to the payee remains liable unless he adduces evidence to rebut the presumption that the cheque had been issued for payment of a debt or in discharge of a liability. It is immaterial that the cheque may have been filled in by any person other than the drawer, if the cheque is duly signed by the drawer. If the cheque is otherwise valid, the penal provisions of Section 138 would be attracted. If a signed blank cheque is voluntarily presented to a payee, towards some payment, the payee may fill up the amount and other particulars. This in itself would not invalidate the che....