V. Ramkumar, J.

1. Crl. RP No. 683 of 2008 is filed by the accused and Crl. RP No. 2358 of 2008 is filed by the complainant in CC 267 of 1996 on the file of the JFCM, Muvattupuzha. The above case arose out of a private complaint alleging the commission of an offence punishable under S.138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 ("the NI Act" for short) in respect of Ext. P1 cheque dated 31/08/1995 for a sum of Rs.3,50,000/-. In these revisions, both the complainant as well as the accused challenge the order dated 29/01/2008 passed by the learned Magistrate allowing the application (CMP No. 35 of 2008) filed by the accused for sending the cheque to the handwriting expert for detecting whether the signature and the other writings in the cheque were contemporaneously made. According to the accused, the learned Magistrate ought to have sent the cheque to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, as prayed for and not to a private expert. According to the complainant, the learned Magistrate should not have allowed the request of the accused to any extent whatsoever.

2. I heard Adv. Smt. K. V. Jayanthi, the learned counsel appearing for the accused and Adv. Sri. George Abra