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2022 DIGILAW 437 (KER)

Santhosh Mathew, S/o. Joseph Mathew v. Santhosh, S/o. Abraham

2022-06-06

MARY JOSEPH

body2022
ORDER : 1. This petition is filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ( for short ‘Cr.P.C’) seeking to quash orders passed by Judicial First Class Magistrate -II, Pala in CMP No. 19/2022 in ST No. 1/2017. 2. By the above order, the court below has dismissed the application filed by the petitioner under Section 311 Cr.P.C seeking to forward the disputed cheque which formed the basis for the prosecution, for getting expert opinion on authorship of the handwritings by which it’s entries are filled up. 3. According to Sri. R. Parthasarathy, the court below has gone wrong in dismissing the application. According to him, getting expert opinion on authorship of handwritings is very much required for the petitioner to rebut the presumption on execution of the cheque. 4. This Court has noticed that voluntary issuance of signed cheque was admitted by the petitioner. Therefore, in view of the dictum in Bir Singh v. Mukesh Kumar [ 2019 (1) KHC 774 (SC)], the proof of authorship of handwriting by which the entries in the disputed cheque have been filled up is irrelevant, when it is admitted by the accused as issued duly signed and voluntarily. The onus lies on the accused in such a context to rebut the presumption by establishing that the disputed signed cheque has reached the hands of the complainant in a manner different from that alleged by the complainant. Opinion on authorship of handwriting by which the entries in the cheque are filled up will not help the petitioner to discharge it’s onus to rebut the presumption on execution. This Court is declined to interfere with the impugned order. Crl.M.C fails and is dismissed for reasons stated above.