Bank accountable for clearing forged cheque

Sameer Jain, proprietor of Net Solutions, held a Business Gold Account with IDBI Bank, Chandigarh Branch.

On April 24, 2008, he was notified that ₹42.8 lakh had been transferred from his account through a cheque payable to "Spectra Computer".

Jain contacted his vendor "Spectra Computech", which denied receiving this amount. Upon inquiry with his bank, Jain discovered that the cheque was drawn in favour of "Spectra CompuPech", which had its account with Kotak Mahindra Bank, and his signature was forged. He repeatedly requested the bank to furnish a copy of the cheque, but the bank did not comply.

Jain approached the Economic Offences Wing, and the Manimajra Police Station and registered a First Information Report (FIR) on November 30, 2008. Forensic analysis of the cheque conducted by the police confirmed that the signature was forged.

Jain requested IDBI Bank to recredit the funds to his account, but the bank did not pay any heed. Consequently, he filed a complaint with the Chandigarh State Commission against both IDBI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.