Tanya Gupta
Published on: March 17, 2022 at 19:00 IST
In the Case of Sudhir Kumar Vs. Padam Singh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Upheld the Lower Court’s Opinion that there is no point in the Appointment of a Handwriting Expert when the Signature over a Cheque in Question has not been Denied specifically.
The Plea filed by Sudhir Kumar contested the Ruling of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Sohna, Gurugram which Rejected the Application of Appointment of Handwriting Expert.
The Plea was Dismissed by the Bench of Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj.
About the Case
A Complaint was filed by the Respondent-Complainant Alleging that the Petitioner, in Discharge of his Liability issued a Cheque of Rs. 5 Lakhs in October 2016.
However, the Petitioner’s Counsel argued that neither the Cheque was ever Issued nor there was any Liability.
In the Petitioner’s Case, the Husband of the Petitioner and the Respondent were carrying out a Business together. A Cheque was given to the Respondent by the Plaintiff at the said relevant time as a Security for their Mutual Transactions and Property Dealing Business.
Further, the Petitioner argues that the Cheque in Question was never Signed and was handed over as a Blank Cheque to the Respondent.
The Application for the Appointment of Handwriting Expert was filed by the Petitioner before the Judicial Magistrate’s Court.
However, the Application was Rejected noting that there was no point in Appointing a Handwriting Expert to compare the Handwriting when the Signature over the Cheque in Question had not been Specifically Denied.
Observations of the High Court
The High Court opined that since the Petitioner admitted his Signatures over the Cheque, there is no need to Appoint an Expert at this early stage.
The Issue as to finding out who filled the Cheque can be Examined at the time of Final Adjudication.
While Dismissing the Plea, the Court stated,
“Learned Counsel for the Petitioner has failed to refer to any Provision in Law as per which the Handwriting on Cheque must necessarily be that of the Signatory or to any Judgment that would hold that once the Signatures on Cheque are admitted, Filing of the Cheque in a different Handwriting itself would be a sufficient Ground to Rule against a Cheque having been Issued in Due Course.”
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