Madhya Pradesh High Court
Vikram Sharma vs State Bank Of Indore And 3 Ors. on 27 June, 2002
JUDGMENT R.B. Dixit, J.
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.
4. However, in our opinion, none of the above cited cases relates to loss of the cheques. It is to be noticed that in the present case the author of the cheques is the real brother of the petitioner while the petitioner was employed with Bank and was previously also involved in a similar type of controversy for which departmental action was taken against him. When the employee of the Bank is involved it is not possible for the Bank to detect the foul-play immediately.
5. It is not disputed that the Bank has been put to the loss of the amount in question and the petitioner has been benefitted of it. In the circumstances there is nothing wrong in recovery of the amount being made from him.
6. However, insofar as legal question of returning the document is concerned, the cheques cannot be returned as they were subsequently found lost. It is further to be noticed that a fraud was played with the Bank authorities as the cheques were shown despatched on the register while in fact cheques were not at all despatched to the other Bank.
7. Learned Counsel of the appellant has submitted that in case if the recovery is made from him he would be required to claim the amount from the author of the cheques i.e. Ashok Kumar Sharma and without documents or authority he cannot make any claim. In this regard the Bank can very well issue a certificate of loss of the cheques to the petitioner. That can solve his problem.
8. For the reasons stated hereinabove this appeal fails and is dismissed with the observations made hereinabove.