If signatures are admitted by Drawer, it is immaterial if entries are made by another person under section 138, NI Act.

The High Court of Kerala in the case of Sandhya Rani G. vs State of Kerala & Anr. (Crl. M.C. No. 1310 of 2019) on 13.03.2020 held that if the drawer admits the signature in the cheque, it is immaterial whether some other person had made the entries in the cheque to fill it up.

Facts :
Respondent no. 2 herein, had filed a complaint under section 138 NI Act against the Petitioner before the Trail Court, Ernakulam. The petitioner/accused filed an application in the trial court for sending the cheque to the Forensic Science Laboratory to obtain an opinion regarding the handwriting in the cheque.
The dispute was with regard to the other entries in the cheque and not regarding the signature as it bore the petitioner’s signature and there was no dispute regarding the same.

Issue:
If the entries of the cheque are filled by some other person will it affect the validity of the cheque?

Ratio:
The Hon’ble Court relied upon the judgment of ‘Bir Singh vs Mukesh Kumar’AIR 2019 SC 2446 and reiterated that it is immaterial that the cheque may have been filled in by any person other than the drawer if the cheque is duly signed by the drawer. When the accused admits the signature in the cheque, it is immaterial whether some other person had made the entries in the cheque/filled it up. Even if some other person had filled up the cheque, it does not in any way affect the validity of the cheque.’
The court further held that the intention of the petitioner/accused was only to protract the proceedings in the case and that there is no illegality or impropriety in the impugned order passed by the trial court. The petition was dismissed accordingly.