A bench of Justice Chandrachud and Justice Roy in a case titled as ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE vs PRABODH KUMAR TEWARI & ANR. on 04.11.2019 has stayed the High Court order which had allowed an accused to examine handwriting expert despite admission of signature on the cheque.

Supreme Court observed and held as under:

"Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has relied on the decision of this Court in Bir Singh v Mukesh Kumar1 particularly the following observations in paragraph 33 of the judgment:

“33. A meaningful reading of the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act including, in particular, Sections 20, 87 and 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.”

Learned counsel has drawn the attention of the Court to the admission of the first respondent during the course of the examination that the cheque has been duly signed by him.

Hence, it has been urged that having regard to the object of Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, there was no warrant for the High Court to allow the application for the examination of a private handwriting expert. Issue notice returnable in six weeks. In the meantime, there shall be a stay of operation of the impugned order of the High Court".

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