Inchoate stamped instruments
Full Text
Inchoate stamped instruments.—Where one person signs and delivers to another a paper stamped in accordance with the law relating to negotiable instruments then in force in India, and either wholly blank or having written thereon an incomplete negotiable instrument, he thereby gives prima facie authority to the holder thereof to make or complete, as the case may be, upon it a negotiable instrument, for any amount specified therein and not exceeding the amount covered by the stamp.
The person so signing shall be liable upon such instrument, in the capacity in which he signed the same, to any holder in due course for such amount: provided that no person other than a holder in due course shall recover from the person delivering the instrument anything in excess of the amount intended by him to be paid thereunder.
Plain English Summary
Allows a holder to complete a blank or incomplete signed, stamped paper as a negotiable instrument up to the stamp's value, making the signer liable to a holder in due course.
Key Legal Elements
- Applies when a person signs and delivers a blank or incomplete stamped paper
- Gives prima facie authority to the holder to complete the instrument
- The amount filled cannot exceed the limit covered by the stamp
- The signer is fully liable to a holder in due course for the amount filled
Practical Note
Crucial in cheque bounce cases under Section 138. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that if a signed blank cheque leaf is handed over, the drawer gives prima facie authority to the payee to fill the details, and the drawer cannot escape liability simply by claiming the cheque was blank when signed.
हिंदी पाठ
अपूर्ण स्टांपित लिखत।—जहां कोई व्यक्ति भारत में लागू परक्राम्य लिखतों से संबंधित कानून के अनुसार स्टांपित किसी ऐसे कागज पर, जो या तो पूरी तरह से खाली हो या जिस पर कोई अपूर्ण परक्राम्य लिखत लिखा हो, हस्ताक्षर करके किसी अन्य व्यक्ति को परिदत्त (deliver) करता है, तो वह उसके धारक को उस पर किसी भी ऐसी राशि के लिए जो उस स्टांप मूल्य से अधिक न हो, लिखत तैयार करने या पूर्ण करने का प्रथमदृष्टया (prima facie) प्राधिकार देता है।
इस प्रकार हस्ताक्षर करने वाला व्यक्ति ऐसे लिखत पर, जिस हैसियत में उसने हस्ताक्षर किए थे, किसी भी यथाविधि धारक (holder in due course) के प्रति उस राशि के लिए उत्तरदायी होगा; परंतु यथाविधि धारक से भिन्न कोई भी व्यक्ति लिखत परिदत्त करने वाले व्यक्ति से उस राशि से अधिक वसूल नहीं कर सकेगा जो उसके द्वारा भुगतान किए जाने का इरादा था।