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Supreme Court sets aside High Court judgment allowing amendment of cheque date in complaint

The Supreme Court has set aside a judgment of the High Court that permitted a complainant in a cheque dishonour case to amend the date of the cheque mentioned in the complaint.

The top court mentioned that the amendment application was moved after the evidence stage was over. It underlined that the date of the cheque was mentioned as July 22, 2010 in the complaint. The same date was further mentioned in the legal notice which was issued after the dishonour of the cheque. In addition, in the evidence as well, the very same date was mentioned.

Nonetheless, the complainant, after the evidence stage, filed the amendment application to change the date of the cheque mentioned in the complaint as July 22, 2012 instead of July 22, 2010. The application further sought to change the date of the cheque mentioned in the evidence. Though the trial court dismissed the application, the High Court allowed it, stating that typographical mistakes were possible.

Setting aside the High Court’s decision, the apex court stated that the legal notice issued before the complaint also mentioned the date July 22, 2010. The top court observed that the High Court has in fact lost sight of the fact that the documents also contain the said date and the evidence recorded is also to the same effect.

The bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar ruled that in a matter of the present nature, where the date is a relevant aspect based on which the entire aspect relating to the issue of notice within the time frame as provided under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, and also as to whether as on the date there was sufficient balance in the account of the issuer of the cheque would be the question, the amendment, as sought for, in the present circumstance, was not justified.

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