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Basalingappa v. Mudibasappa

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 500Decided 9 Apr 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 636 of 2019
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice K.M. Joseph

Background

The complainant alleged he had given the accused a hand loan of Rs. 6 lakhs, in discharge of which the accused issued a cheque that was later dishonoured for insufficient funds, leading to a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The accused did not deny his signature on the cheque but raised a defence questioning the complainant's financial capacity to lend such an amount and pointed to inconsistencies in the complainant's own account of events. The Trial Court acquitted the accused, but the Karnataka High Court reversed this on the complainant's appeal and convicted the accused, imposing a fine of Rs. 8 lakhs with a default sentence of three months' imprisonment, prompting the accused's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that although admission of signature on a cheque raises a statutory presumption under Section 139 that it was issued for a debt or liability, this presumption is rebuttable and the accused's burden to rebut it is only one of preponderance of probability, not proof beyond reasonable doubt. The Court found that the accused had raised a probable defence, including the complainant's own inconsistent statements about when the loan was supposedly given, contradictions between his complaint, his examination-in-chief and his cross-examination, and other evidence suggesting the complainant's claimed lending capacity was doubtful. The Court held that the High Court was wrong to brand the Trial Court's acquittal "perverse" when that finding was properly based on evidence led by the defence, and restored the acquittal, allowing the appeal and setting aside the High Court's conviction.

Lesson Learnt

In a cheque-bounce case, admitting one's signature on the cheque does not end the matter: an accused can still escape conviction by raising a probable defence (such as doubts about the complainant's actual financial capacity to lend the money) that need only be proved on a balance of probabilities, not beyond reasonable doubt.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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