Pushpa Girimaji
I am placed in a very peculiar situation and need legal help. We all know of forged signatures, but, in my case, forged or duplicate cheques were used to withdraw large sums of money from my account. Obviously, the signatures were also forged and the bank did not once question the withdrawal. My wife and I were out of the country at that time and had put the cell phones on aeroplane mode. So, we did not get any text messages about the withdrawals. The bank now says it is not responsible for the illegal withdrawals even though I have proved that the cheque book with the cheque numbers used to withdraw the money is still with me. What should I do?
Immediately lodge a complaint with the police. I am sure a police investigation will lead to the culprits who could well be someone within the bank or connected with the bank. Send a copy of the complaint to the Reserve Bank too because this is a serious matter. I would also suggest that you immediately send a complaint to the bank, demanding that they make good your loss. You should also ask them to give you photocopies of the cheques used for withdrawal of money from your account. You have a right to that.
If the bank is not willing to refund the amount withdrawn, you should file a complaint for recovery of your money. You can do so either through the Banking Ombudsman or the consumer court. You already have the original cheque book and the leaves to show that the miscreants used duplicate cheques. You could also prove that the signature was forged by seeking the help of a signature expert. The police investigation will also show that. You have a strong case and I do not see how you cannot get back your money, besides compensation for the suffering undergone by you.
Have the consumer courts come across any such case?
Only recently, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission gave its verdict on a case similar to yours and that should really help.
This case revolves around a joint savings bank account operated by the complainant, Dr Brijesh Sharma, a doctor who practiced and lived in the United Kingdom, and his wife who lived in Nagpur. Their account was in a Nagpur branch of the Canara Bank.
In March 2012, his wife received a call from the chief manager of the bank about some discrepancy in the cheque issued by her husband. He wanted to know whether it should be passed. On being informed by his wife, Dr Sharma called up the bank and said he had not issued any such cheque. To his shock, he was then told that the four cheques issued by him to the same party, Dipak Ganesh Mishra, for amounts of over Rs 4 lakh each had already been cleared by the bank. And they had all come for clearing from different branches of Allahabad Bank.
Aghast, Dr Sharma came to Nagpur and informed the bank manager that the cheque book with the numbers that were used for withdrawing cash, were with him and, obviously, someone in the bank who knew of the balance in the account had fraudulently made the withdrawals. The bank asked the customer to lodge a police complaint.
Subsequently, in response to the consumer complaint filed by Dr Sharma, the bank argued that the cheques were passed on the basis of the electronic image of the cheque leaf and the signature and they did not find any discrepancy. They also argued that the customers had duplicated cheque book and leaves and that the ones passed by them were the originals! However, when the consumer court asked the bank to produce these cheques, the bank said they had been eaten by white ants!
Eventually, after perusing all the facts, the Commission concluded that the bank was negligent in passing a duplicate cheque with a forged signature and upheld the verdict of the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, directing the bank to refund Rs 18,45,000 fraudulently withdrawn, with interest calculated at the rate of 6 per cent. Failure to pay within 30 days would require the bank to pay 9 per cent interest, the Commission had said. (Canara Bank Vs Brijesh Sharma, First Appeal no 1110 of 2019, decided on September 20, 2019)