1. For the sake of convenience, the appellant and the respondent will be referred to as the complainant and the accused respectively. It is the case of the complainant that the accused was his friend for several years; on 24.12.2007, the accused borrowed a hand loan of Rs.5,00,000/- for his urgent expenses and on the same day, he issued a post-dated cheque dated 07.01.2008 for Rs.5,00,000/- drawn on Canara Bank, B.N.Road Branch, Tiruppur (Ex.P1); the complainant presented the cheque for collection on 07.01.2008 through his Bank, viz. Indian Bank, Court Road, Tiruppur Main Branch; the said cheque was returned unpaid on 08.01.2008 on the reasoning “account closed” (vide Ex.P3), which fact was informed to the complainant by his bank vide advice dated 08.01.2008 (Ex.P4); the complainant issued the statutory notice dated 12.01.2008 to the accused (Ex.P5), which was received by the accused on 16.01.2008 (vide Ex.P7); the accused issued a reply notice dated 25.01.2008 (Ex.P8) repudiating the debt. Hence, the complainant initiated a prosecution in STC.No.1307 of 2008 before the Judicial Magistrate No.I, Tiruppur, under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. On receipt of