Greetings to you I'm Murali from Hyderabad. I had given surity for the chit amount of 10 lakhs to my friend in 2013. He not paid the installment, the chit company filed the case. As I was changed my correspondence address, I'm unable to receive the notices. The court finally ordered to deduct from my salary an amount of 4 lakhs. From the last 5 months the amount has been deducting from my salary. Meanwhile I regularly asking my friend to clear the pending amount. But he is careless and fearless as the total pressure is on my shoulders. Upon forcing he given two cheques amount of 1 lakh of each. The amount had been written by him in words and also by number. I written my name on the cheque and deposited in bank as account pay . The cheque had returned with sign is not verified. Only I have court order copy of salary attachment as supporting document. Can I proceed court case against him. I feel the writing of one lakh rupees on cheque is by him so the hand writing will verified by the court. He given a blank 100 rupees bond paper also signed. The sign also similar to sign on cheque. I mean wrong sign. Here my question are 1 .will I get my money by filing the case?? 2. If file the case is any harm for me???
1) file suit to recover amount of Rs4 lakhs ordered by court to be deducted from your salary
2) rely upon 2 cheques of Rs 1 lakh issued by your friend which have been dishonoured on presentation
3) you would be able to obtain decree against your friend for Rs 4 lakhs
4) you would not suffer any harm in case you file case
1. You can initiate a cheque dishonour proceeding by sending him the appropriate notice and file the case u/s138 of N.I.Act.
2. If you file the case against hin under the said Act, it will be of no harm to you but harmful on your friend as he might have to go to jail if he fails to pay you the cheque amount with interest and penalty to be decided by the Court.
Here my doubts are 1. Is cheque returned with sign not verified is same as cheque dishonoured (cheque bounce) 2.in cheque the amount in words one lakh and in number 100000 is written by him. I written my name on cheque and managed to similar writing of him. I mean he not written my name on cheque only given a one lakh rupee cheque. Is it will make any clue for him to escape??? 3. Can I file cheating case on him?? and finally thank you for such valuable suggestions
1. Since the cheque could not be honoured due to mismatch of signature of the drawer your only remedy against your friend is a civil suit for recovery to recover the amount.
2. There is no harm in filing the case.
3. A prosecution for cheque bounce is not maintainable if the cheque has been dishonoured due to signature mismatch,
Even if cheque returned on grounds signature differs it amounts to dishonour of cheque
2) once blank cheque had been issued by drawer he has authorised you to fill in details
3) it does not amount to material alteration of. Cheque
4) you can file cheating case
The reason why I advised you to file summary suit is results are faster
2) cheque bouncing cases take 6 years to be disposed of
3) in summary suit you can get interim orders in 6 months to one year time
A closer scrutiny of the ingredients of Section 20 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 unerringly points out that filling up of blank cheque is neither a case of 'Material Alteration' of the cheque nor 'Fabrication or Forgery'. An implied authority is given to the holder of the cheque, at the time of entrusting a blank cheque containing the signature of the Drawer of the cheque alone, to fill the columns therein. Based on the implied authority, if the columns are filled up mentioning the date and amount by words and figures, it would not amount to any offence much less the offence punishable under Sections 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code as per decision Chinthala Cheruvu V. State reported in 2007 (1) Bankmann 546.
1. Thge reasons for return of cheques as found in the website of State Bank of India is given below wherein you will not find the mention of 'signature not verified' as a reason for return of the cheque. There is a reason 'signature differs' for returning the cheque.
CODE NO. REASON FOR RETURN
(01-03) Funds
01
Funds insufficient
02
Exceeds arrangement
03
Effects not cleared, present again.
(04-05) Reference to Drawer
04
Refer to drawer
05
Kindly contact Drawer/Drawee Bank and please present again.
(10-17) Signature
10
Drawer's signature incomplete
11
Drawer's signature illegible
12
Drawer's signature differs
13
Drawer's signature required
14
Drawer's signature not as per mandate
15
Drawer's signature to operate account not received
16
Drawer's authority to operate account not received
17
Alteration requires drawer's authentication
(20-29) Stop Payment
20
Payment stopped by drawer
21
Payment stopped by attachment order
22
Payment stopped by court order
23
Withdrawal stopped owing to death of account holder
24
Withdrawal stopped owing to lunacy of account holder
25
Withdrawal stopped owing to insolvency of account holder
(30-42) Instrument
30
Instrument post dated
31
Instrument out dated/stale
32
Instrument undated/ without proper date
33
Instrument mutilated; requires Bank's guarantee
34
Cheque irregularly drawn/ amount in words and figures differs
35
Clearing House stamp/ date required
36
Wrongly delivered/ Not drawn on us
37
Present in proper zone
38
Instrument contains extraneous matter
39
Image not clear, present again with paper
40
Present with document
41
Item listed twice
42
Paper not received
(50-55) Account
50
Account closed
51
Account transferred to another branch
52
No such account
53
Title of account required
54
Title of account wrong/ incomplete
55
Account blocked (situation covered in 21-25)
(60-68) Crossing/Endorsement
60
Crossed to two banks
61
Crossing stamp not cancelled
62
Clearing stamp not cancelled
63
Instrument specially crossed to another bank
64
Amount in protective crossing incorrect
65
Amount in protective crossing required/illegible
66
Payee's endorsement required
67
Payee's endorsement irregular / requires collecting bank's confirmation
68
Endorsement by mark/ thumb impression requires attestation by Magistrate with seal
(70-76) RBI /Government
70
Advice not received
71
Amount / Name differs on advice
72
Drawee bank's fund with sponsor bank insufficient
73
Payee's separate discharge to bank required
74
Not payable till 1st proximo
75
Pay order/ cheque requires counter signature
76
Required information not legible/ correct
(80-92) Miscellaneous
80
Bank's certificate ambiguous/ incomplete/ required
81
Draft lost by issuing office/ confirmation required from issuing office
82
Bank/Branch blocked
83
Digital Certificate Validation failure
84
Other reasons-connectivity failure
85
Alterations on instrument- Other than "Date" field (Alteration/correction on instruments are prohibited under Cheque Truncation System. Return reason code applicable to instruments presented in CTS)
86
Fake/Forged/Stolen-draft/cheque/cash order/interest warrant/dividend warrant
87
‘Payee's a/c credited'- Stamp required
88
Other reasons (Please specify)
92
Bank Excluded
2. The reason mentioned by you as 'signature not verified' is terribly peculiar and unusual. If the signature is not verified, it is the duty of the Bank to veriify it and they can not return the cheque without verifying the signature of the drawer of the cheque.
3. You have mentioned that you have a doubt whether cheque returned with sign not verified is same as cheque dishonoured (cheque bounce). It is surprising that without clarifying your said doubt you have passed judgment that advise to you for initiating cheque dishonour proceeding by sending him the appropriate notice is TERRIBLE.
4. To clear your doubt, I am pasting below a part of RBI circular wherein 'Dishonour / Return of Cheques' has been mentioned as subject.
RBI/2010-11/190
DPSS.CO.CHD.No.485/03.06.01/2010-11
September 1, 2010
The Chairman and Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer
All Scheduled Commercial Banks including RRBs /
Urban Co-operative Banks / State Co-operative Banks /
District Central Co-operative Banks
Madam / Dear Sir,
Dishonour / Return of Cheques - Need to Mention the 'Date of Return'
in the Cheque Return Memo
5. It is to be understood that when a cheque is returned it is dishonoured and unless 'deposite again' is mentioned in the return memo, the drawee has no recourse with him/her to get the money and as the first step of initiating cheque dishonour proceeding he has to send the drawer appropriate notice to pay by DD and if he fails to comply with the demand of the said notice further action u/s138 of N.I. Act shall have to be followed.
6. However, whether as per your statement Bank has informed 'sign not verified' or 'signature differs' and returned the cheque, it is a case of dishonour of the cheque for which you are required to send the drawer a demand notice as the first step of initiating cheque dishonour proceeding.
7. You shall have to argue before the Court during the proceeding of the cheque dishonour case that the drawee has filled up the amount by his own hand but you shall also have to prove that he has signed the cheque.
8. During the proceeding the drawer may submit that he had filled up the cheque for issuing to some one else but did not sign it which you have filled up and faked his signature thereupon which you shall have to counter.
9. If by any chance he can prove that someone has faked his signature (forensic test can detect even the type of handwriting of the person who has faked the signature and can trace him out) then the person who has faked his signature will be prosecuted by law.
Here my question are
1 .will I get my money by filing the case??
2. If file the case is any harm for me???
You have to first send him a legal notice demanding the cheque amount for the cheque which has been dishonored, if he fails to comply with the demand or has not replied then you may initiate proper legal action through both criminal as well as civil laws for recovery of your money.
1. Is cheque returned with sign not verified is same as cheque dishonoured (cheque bounce)
He has intentionally made incorrect signature in the cheque only to defraud you, hence you may initiate appropriate action against him for recovery as well as to punish him.
2.in cheque the amount in words one lakh and in number 100000 is written by him. I written my name on cheque and managed to similar writing of him. I mean he not written my name on cheque only given a one lakh rupee cheque. Is it will make any clue for him to escape???
That is not an issue, the actual problem is that his signature is not tallying to that of the specimen signature held by bank, so you should initiate action for this fraudulent action only.
3. Can I file cheating case on him??
Yes, you can file cheating case also against him.