There are judgments of the Supreme Court laying down that “stop payment” instructions given by the drawer of the cheque do not really alter the character of a cheque dishonour case, provided all other ingredients of the offence defined under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, are satisfied. Please see this article for more details: http://tilakmarg.com/answers/consequences-of-stop-payment-on-cheque-dishonour-when-there-is-a-dispute-between-parties/
If your intention is seek only some more days to make the payment, as you have mentioned in your question, then even after the cheque bounces (due to stop payment or otherwise), the opposite party will be issuing a notice to you, and on the receipt of such notice, you can still make the payment (meanwhile, you arrange the payment). If you make the payment in this manner, there would be no case of cheque dishonour made out against you.
Proof of a loan (including a hand loan) does not merely depend upon the agreement in writing which might have been reached between the two parties. Hand loan can be proved by other evidence also (i.e., other than the written agreement).
Please also note that once you issue a cheque and it is dishonoured, there is a presumption under the Negotiable Instruments Act that the cheque was issued to discharge a debt or liability. Therefore, it would be presumed that you had issued the cheque to discharge the debt or liability. The burden would be on you to rebut this presumption and disprove this fact.
Keep these issues in mind.
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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