Negotiable Instruments Act - Dishonor of the Cheque

We are a family based law firm specializing in The Negotiable Instruments Act and Cheque Dishonor Cases with a formidable record. When people have a legal problem, they need a lawyer with the experience to handle their case.

The Negotiable Instruments Act is an act to define and Law relating to Promissory Notes, Bills of Exchange and cheques.

Section 138 and 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act introduced in the gazette of India part-II, dated 19.12.1988 made Dishonor of cheque a Cognizable Criminal Offence. Section 138 to 142 of Chapter XVII, of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, deals with Dishonor of cheque. The amendment was brought as expedient to define and amend the law relating to promissory notes, bills of exchange and cheques in order to bring sanctity to the common business transactions.

A negotiable instrument means a promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque payable either to order or to bearer, local extent, saving of usage relating to hundis, etc., Commencement. Ingredients of the offence under Section 138:

• A person must have drawn a cheque on an account maintained by him in a bank for payment of a certain amount of money to another person from out of that account.
• The cheque should have been issued for the discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or other liability.
• That cheque has been presented to the bank within a period of six months from the date on which it is drawn or within the period of its validity whichever is earlier.
• That cheque is returned by the bank unpaid, either because of the amount of money standing to the credit of the account is insufficient to honour the cheque or that it exceeds the amount arranged to be paid from that account by an agreement made with the bank.
• The payee or the holder in due course of the cheque makes a demand for the payment of the said amount of money by giving a notice in writing, to the drawer of the cheque, within 30 days of the receipt of information by him from the bank regarding the return of the cheque as unpaid.
• The drawer of such cheque fails to make payment of the said amount of money to the payee or the holder in due course of the cheque within 30 days of the receipt of the said notice.

The criminal case begins as follows. A person receives a check and turns it into the bank, but the check bounces. The person who is notified by the bank that the check they were given bounced will then have a choice of whether to report it as a crime. If the person who got the bounced check does report the check, the writer of the check will be charged with The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and a notice will be sent from prosecution. Most people do not intend to steal when the check they wrote bounces, but unfortunately, sometimes circumstances come up that cause a check to bounce that are sometimes outside the control of a person. Sometimes it is due to bad bookkeeping. There are a wide variety of reasons that a check could be unpaid that are not criminal in nature. In order to get the best results possible, you will need an attorney to represent you.

What to do When You are Charged With Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

When you are charged with Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, you should call a criminal defense attorney. The attorney will be able to help you come up with a strategy to keep all of your bounced checks from being filed as individual criminal cases. Your attorney can help you figure out whether you can get the case dismissed, or other fast ways to resolution. If you know you have bounced a check, but have not yet been formally charged with a crime, it is a good idea to call a lawyer and make sure the issue is fixed before it is formally charged, or before you are arrested.

Bounced check cases are one of the more common cases filed in the Gurgaon, Delhi area today. If you have a bounced, unpaid, or hot check and you are being criminally prosecuted, you need legal representation. Please contact the Negotiable Instruments Act experts of Jain Law Firm at (981) 103-0763.