Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:90897 Court No. - 73 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 528 BNSS No. - 18170 of 2025 Applicant :- Lokesh Sharma Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Ashutosh Shukla,Saurabh Kumar Tripathi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Vikas Budhwar,J. 1. Heard Sri Ashutosh Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Vikas Sharma, learned State Law Officer. 2. This is an application under Section 528 of BNSS preferred by the applicant for quashing the entire proceedings of Complaint case no. 483 of 2024, Krashna Murari Vs. Lokesh Sharma, U/s 138 Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, P.S. Kotwali Shashani, District- Hathras including the summoning order dated 17.08.2024 passed by the Ld. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Hathras District- Hathras. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that on 18.06.2024, a complaint was lodged by O.P. No.2 against the applicant under Section 138 of N.I. Act with an allegation that with respect to discharge of a liability, a cheque dated 01.05.2024 was drawn by the applicant, which on presentation in bank on 02.05.2024 was dishonoured with the remark 'drawer's signature defers'. Thereafter statutory demand notice was issued on 28.05.2024 followed by the complaint and the applicant has been summoned on 17.08.2024. Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the complaint cannot be proceeded with for more than one reason, firstly, the remarks for returning the cheque as 'drawer's signature defers' does not come within the ambit of Section 138 of the N.I. Act, and secondly while inviting attention towards para-16, 17 and 20, it is being contended that the applicant at no point of time had drawn the said cheque in favour of O.P. No.2. Less to say about dishonouring of the same. In nutshell, the submission is that the said cheque was misutilized. 4. Learned State Law Officer on the other hand submits that once a cheque stood drawn and it is dishonoured, the presumption would be in favour of the holder of the cheque in view of Section 139 of the N.I. Act. 5. I have heard the submissions so made across the Bar and perused the record carefully. 6. Apparently, as per the allegation, a cheque bearing number "905863" dated 01.05.2024 of an amount Rs.1,00,000/- stood dishonoured with the remark 'drawer's signature defers'. The Hon'ble Apex Court in Laxmi Dyechem vs. State of Gujarat and others, (2012) 13 SCC 375 had the occasion to consider the said aspect of the matter and in para-16, the following was observed: - "16. The above line of decisions leaves no room for holding that the two contingencies envisaged under Section 138 of the Act must be interpreted strictly or literally. We find ourselves in respectful agreement with the decision in NEPC Micon Ltd. (supra) that the expression ?amount of money ... is insufficient? appearing in Section 138 of the Act is a genus and dishonour for reasons such ?as account closed?, ?payment stopped?, ? referred to the drawer? are only species of that genus. Just as dishonour of a cheque on the ground that the account has been closed is a dishonour falling in the first contingency referred to in Section 138, so also dishonour on the ground that the ?signatures do not match? or that the ?image is not found?, which too implies that the specimen signatures do not match the signatures on the cheque would constitute a dishonour within the meaning of Section 138 of the Act." 7. Once the cheque stood returned with the remarks that 'signatures do not match", then in view of the above noted judgment, it amounts to dishonour of the cheque. As regards the second submission of learned counsel for the applicant that he had not issued the cheque in question, it is a matter of trial, which cannot be gone into at the stage when summoning order is subject matter of challenge. 8. Importantly, what would be relevant would be that the presumption of Section 139 of the N.I. Act. 9. No case is made out to interfere at this stage. 10. Accordingly, the application stands rejected. Order Date :- 28.5.2025 N.S.Rathour (Vikas Budhwar, J) Digitally signed by :- NIPENDRA SINGH RATHOUR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad