1. This appeal is by the plaintiff before the trial court.

2. The parties are referred to by their rank before the trial court for the sake of convenience.

3. The plaintiff was the Bangalore branch of the State Bank of India (Hereinafter referred to as the 'SBI', for brevity). It was the case of the plaintiff that a demand draft bearing No. 462749, dated 9.1.2001, in favour of one Raj Kishore, for a sum of Rs. 25,000/- was issued by SBI, Bhagalpur city, drawn on SBI, Bangalore branch. The same was said to have been presented in the clearing house by defendant No. 1, Sir M. Visweshwaraiah Co - operative Bank Limited on 17.1.2001 and the proceeds were said to have been paid to the payee.
However, the purchaser of the demand draft, one A. K. Agarwal, the third defendant herein, is said to have made a representation to SBI, Bhagalpur, dated 12.1.2001 that the said demand draft was lost by him and had requested the bank to stop payment. Notwithstanding such intimation, the demand draft had been encashed by a person posing himself as the payee who would have apparently also opened a bank account with the first defendant, through which account, the proceeds under the demand draft had be