Petitioner is the accused in C.C. No. 170 of 2009 on the file of the J.F.C.M. II (Addl. Munsiff) Kasaragod for an offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. With regard to the same cheque in question the complainant had filed O.S. No. 99 of 2008 before the Sub Court, Palakkad. According to the petitioner, the common contention both before the civil court and the criminal court is that he had issued a signed blank cheque not in the year 2008 but in the year 1997 and, therefore, the case of the complainant/plaiantiff that the cheque was executed in the year 2008 was false. In the civil suit, the petitioner had sought expert opinion to determine the age of the signature on the cheque and also whether the writings appearing in the cheque bear the same age as the signature. The civil court has sent the disputed cheque to the Fingerprint Bureau. The report of the expert is awaited by the