Trial Court Can Invoke S. 73 Evidence Act To Compare Disputed Handwriting In Cheque Dishonour Cases: Kerala HC
The Kerala High Court has ruled that a Trial Court is authorized to compare disputed handwriting with known handwriting samples when an accused has admitted to signing a cheque, but disputes the content written on it.
In this case, the accused was charged under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which deals with dishonor of cheques. The accused acknowledged that the signature on the cheque was his but denied having filled in the cheque's contents. The petition challenged a Magistrate's order allowing the accused to send his handwriting for forensic analysis.
A Bench of Justice K. Babu, citing Section 73 of the Evidence Act, emphasized, “Therefore, if the accused makes a request for comparison of his admitted or proved writings with the disputed writings, the Trial Court shall invoke Section 73 of the Evidence Act.”
The Court highlighted that the Trial Court can utilize this power to ascertain the authenticity of handwriting if the accused makes such an application.
Advocate T. N. Suresh appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Denizen Komath appeared for the Respondents.
The High Court acknowledged these concerns and noted that the accused had not responded to the notice sent by the petitioner.
Consequently, the Court set aside the Magistrate's order but affirmed that the Trial Court could compare the admitted handwriting with the disputed writing if the accused requested it.
Cause Title: Tomy .T.J. v. State of Kerala & Anr., [2024:KER:57781]
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates T. N. Suresh, Monsy K. V., Dhanuja Vettathu, and Korah Joy
Respondents: Advocates Denizen Komath, Ramzy Bin O. A, Dean Denizen Komath, Megha Madhavan, and Ganga S.
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