VIKRAM SHARMA Vs. STATE BANK OF INDORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER, appellant herein, filed a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India against the recovery of an amount of Rs. 11,800/- from him by the State Bank of Indore on account of non-encashment of the cheques which he had purchased from his brother, Ashok Kumar Sharma.

(2.) THE Writ Court by the impugned order dismissed the petition on the ground that the author of the cheques, Ashok Sharma, being the real brother of the petitioner, this close relationship points the needle of suspicion for loss of the cheques towards the petitioner. It is not in dispute that on account of the cheques being misplaced the Bank has not been able to collect the amount represented by the cheques. The Bank cannot be put to loss. As such, the Bank would be at liberty to proceed with a view to recover the amount from the petitioner. The Bank would also be at liberty to refer the matter to the police for the loss of the cheques.

(3.) THE learned Counsel of the appellant-petitioner has submitted that there is no evidence to suggest that the appellant is liable in any way for the loss of the cheques. In the circumstances unless the cheques are returned to him the amount credited in his account cannot be recovered from him. Reliance is placed on a Division Bench decision of this Court in the case of Dena Bank v. The Madhya Pradesh National Textiles Corporation Ltd. , AIR 1982 MP 85, and in another decision of Madras High Court in the case of Indian Bank, Rasipuram v. Sri Annapoorna Finance, Rasipuram, AIR 2002 Madras 180.