As has been pointed out by me in Drawers signature differs – whether cheque bounce case made out, an offence under Section 138 of the N.I. Act may be made out even where the cheque has been returned unpaid on the ground of signature difference, provided other conditions mentioned in that section are satisfied.
Now, in your case, you have mentioned that you have forgotten your signature that you had initially given to the bank as specimen signature. In this case, if the cheque is dishonoured, which is likely to be the case, you’ll get a legal notice from the payee of the cheque to make the payment of the amount. At that stage, you can make the payment to him by giving another cheque with valid signatures or pay him by other means (such as by online transfer, bank draft or cash, etc.) since your intention is not to avoid payment. If you make payment to the payee at that stage, no offence would be made out since other conditions mentioned in Section 138 would not be satisfied.
Secondly, from your question, it appears that you have issued the cheque with different signatures by mistake, in such situation if the cheque is yet to be presented to the bank, you may request the payee to return that cheque to you and in its place you may issue him another cheque with valid signatures. And, even if this cheque has been presented and dishonoured by the bank but the legal notice is yet to be received by you, nothing stops you from contacting the payee and requesting him not to issue a legal notice to you by showing your willingness to give another valid cheque to him. In all these situations also, no offence would be made out under Section 138 of the N.I. Act.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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