1. Giving a blank cheque is suicidal, as is manifest from what happened in your relative's case.

2. Since the cheque has bounced the creditor can prosecute your relative for cheque bounce.

3. As and when a lawyer's notice is issued to him he should reply through his lawyer and thereafter defend himself on merits in the court.

1) your friend contention should be that no loan has been taken for amount mentioned in cheque .

2) material alteration in cheque without his consent .

3) he has not authorised the drawee to fill in details .

4) there is no debt due and payable .

5) in case legal notice is issued reply to legal notice and contest case on merits

Dear Querist

when your relative will received the notice from him then reply the notice with all the real facts and in which is should be mentioned that this cheque was for security cheque and not for discharging the liability.

if he filed any complaint before court then fight the case on merit with the help of the lawyer.

Hi, Presumption under section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act is that once the cheque is issued and it is for consideration.

2. But recent Supreme Court says that Complaint has to prove the financial capacity if the complaint has filed to prove that he has funds at the time of the transaction then you will acquitted from the case.

3. So you have to contest the case on merits.

1. He should have lodged a police complaint before hand stating that the said cheque has been lost,

2. However, now also he can do so alleging that the said signed blank cheque was missing whixch he did not realise before and now he found that the said person has illegally utilised it,

3. The other person shall have to prove the dischargeable liability to the tune of your cheque to claim the payment written in the cheque,

4. Your relative will received a notice u/s138 of N.I. Act shortly when he has to mention the above in his reply.

it is not good defence that there is no proof of the amount of money he has taken from him. if he has issued any cheque then it is presumed that is has been issued for discharging of any liability. you should collect some evidence to prove that after issuance of the cheque your friend had some inference that this cheque may be misused or used for any illegal consideration by the holder.

if you can prove that holder received blank cheque and write triple amount then this shall be the strong evidence to show that consideration was illegal and your friend shall easily escape from criminal liability.

Hi, as section 20 of the Negotiable Instrument Act once you signed the negotiable instrument it can filed by either by you or other person and you agreed to pay that amount not more than the amount written in the written instruments.

1) it should be your case that amounts and date has been filled in by the complainant and it amounts to material alteration of cheque without your consent

2) blank cheque is no cheque .

3) S. 87 talks about the effect of Material Alteration as “Any material alteration of Negotiable Instrument renders the same void as against anyone who is a party thereto at the time of making such alteration and does not consent thereto, unless it was made in order to carry out the common intention of the original parties;……..”

A single judge of Kerala High Court in Capital Syndicate Vs. Jameela held that if a drawer issues a cheque leaf with his signature only and without the name of the payee and the specifying the amount and date, the filling up of the name of the payee and the specifying the amount and date would amount to material alteration u/s.87 of the act and therefore the criminal proceedings u/s. 138 of the act would not lie if such a cheque is dishonored. The court observed that “…..the subsequent insertion of the amount and the name of the payee without the consent of the drawer would amount to material alteration rendering the instrument void u/s. 87 of the Act”

1. Nobody is going to do mass spectrometry in your case,

2. It will not go that far,

3. Writing acheque leaving the amount blank is not illegal. So, you will not get any legal advantage therefrom,

4. The moot point in this matter is that the other person shall have to prove the dischargeable liability of your relative on him for which he has allegedly issued the said cheque,

5. If he can not prove the dischargeable liability to that high level, it will naturaly come to the light that the amount space in the cheque was kept blank for him to fill up with properly calculated interest at bank rate which he has misused and put an exorbitant figure,

6. The said will then be termed as security cheque by the defending lawyer taking the case out of the purview of section 138 of N.I.Act.

1. Difference in the ink of amount and the signature is immaterial and does not create any potential defence for you.

2. File your reply when you receive a notice from his lawyer. If the prosecution is launched then contest it on merits.