Court can compare signatures in cheque and bank
In a cheque case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act (NI Act), if the accused disputes the signature on the cheque, then the court can summon certified copies of the specimen signature, which is admissible under Bankers’ Book of Evidence Act, 1891, from the bank to compare it with the signature appearing on the cheque under Section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1882 (IEA), says the Supreme Court (SC) in Ajitsinh Chehuji Rathod v State of Gujarat and another.
HC reiterates the decision
The High Cour of Kerala reiterated it in Deepak S v State of Kerala [2024 KER 1119] and states that if the court finds the signatures are similar there is no need to get expert opinion on it as expert opinion is not substantive evidence but only opinion evidence of corroborative nature which has no independent existence without the support of substantive evidence.
Therefore, the court can compare the disputed signatures & the admitted signatures, under Section 73 of the IEA to arrive at a decision, and ignore the accused applying for seeking expert opinion only to drag the case further.
Signature on a cheque carries a presumption of genuineness
The signature on a cheque carries a presumption of genuineness as per Section 118(e) of the NI Act. Hence, the accused should lead evidence to rebut the presumption of genuineness of signatures.
Certified copy of signature is admissible
The SC points out that the certified copy of a document issued by a Bank is itself admissible under the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 without any formal proof thereof.
Hence, the certified copy of the specimen signature maintained by the Bank can be procured with a request to the court to compare the same with the signature appearing on the cheque by exercising powers under Section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Conclusion
in short, in Cheque Bounce cases, the court can compare signatures on cheques with certified copies of specimen signatures from the bank.
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