MEYAPPA CHETTY v. SOMASUNDRAM CHETTY.

MEYAPPA CHETTY v. SOMASUNDRAM CHETTY.

 D. C., Kandy, 13,035,

Lost cheque-Action by holder in due course against drawer--Right of defendant to plead that the cheque was not fitted in by his authority--Estoppel by negligence.

S, having an account in the Kandy branch of the Mercantile Bank of. India, signed a number of cheques in blank and left the cheque book in the custody of his agent with authority to fill in the cheques when required. The agent kept the cheque book in a box secured by a lock in his shop at Kandy. Some one tore a cheque out of the book, filled it in favour of A or order, and A carried it to Colombo, where plaintiff, for a consideration paid by A, cashed it for him on the day after it was drawn, and then presented the cheque for payment at Kandy. The banker not being placed in funds referred the cheque to the drawer, when it was discovered that the cheque in question had been improperly abstracted from S's cheque book and filled in, without his or his agent's knowledge or approval.

Held, per Bonser, C.J., in an action brought by the holder against S, that the banker not having cashed the cheque, the defendant

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