In Brief
A man obtained a conviction under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act for issuing a cheque that bounced due to insufficient funds. The High Court acquitted him, finding that the payee (a tax practitioner) had a fiduciary relationship with the drawer and had misused a blank cheque. The Supreme Court reversed this acquittal, holding that a fiduciary relationship alone does not disentitle the payee to statutory presumption that the cheque was issued to discharge a debt. The Court confirmed the conviction, holding that the drawer must rebut the presumption by cogent evidence, not mere denial, and that filling in a blank signed cheque is not an alteration.
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