121. No maker of a promissory note and no acceptor of a bill of exchange [payable to order] shall, in a suit thereon by a holder in due course, be permitted to deny the payee's capacity, at the date of the note or bill, to indorse the same.
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Section 121: Estoppel against denying capacity of payee to indorse
Chapter XIII — Special Rules of Evidence
Source: official text of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.