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Question
Somebody Issued Me a Cheque of Rs 78,000 , Payable At SBI Branch in JNV Bikaner. That Cheque bounced . What is the Legal Remedy For This

You can initially send a legal notice via your lawyer and if the defaulter even fails to keep up with the given deadline then you may proceed to file a civil suit under section 138 of NI act.

As per your issue if the cheque has Dishonored and the bank has issued the returning memo then first ask him to pay or arrange balance in account immidiatley otherwise issue a demand notice within 30 days of the returning memo if you get your amount then fine otherwise file a case before the concerned court under the N.I act for recovery and the process is easy and fast.

For initiating a Complaint Proceeding under section 138 of The Negotiable Instrument Act it is essential that 1. A notice to the issuer of the cheque intimating him that a Complaint proceeding is to be initiated against him for the non-payment of the cheque if the dues are not cleared with 14 days needs to be sent to the issuer of the cheque by an Advocate at his address. (There are various things that needs to be taken care while sending a notice that differs from case to case basis) 2. Upon the expiration of the time prescribed in the notice a Complaint case U/S 138 can be initiated in the court of a Judicial Magistrate (as the amount is below 1 lakhs) within competent Jurisdiction. There are few other things like timings and other things which differ in each cases depending upon facts which needs proper consultation of an advocate.

Just send legal notice via Advocate within 30 days of return memo.

Dear Mr. Harish, Firstly, you need to ascertain the reason for the issuance of the cheque, if the same was issued as part payment or repayment of a loan then you do have an option of filing a police complaint of cheating against the issuer on grounds that the cheque was issued intentionally to cheat with no motive of returning back the funds. In case the payment is a result of some commercial transaction then you can file a complaint U/s 138 with the Court to get the amount of cheque back, as filing a police complaint won't help as no commercial transactions are taken by police. Please note that cheque bouncing itself is a criminal offence just the remedies may be taken on a case on case basis. Please consult a professional before taking any step.

Arun V S
Advocate Arun V S
15 May 2021 07:32 AM

Well you have to give a legal notice for the same to that person within 30 days of the receipt from the bank to inform the drawer of such cheque to make the payment within 15 days from the receipt of this notice otherwise legal action will be taken against him. If the drawer of such cheque fails to make the payment of the said amount within above mentioned time frame, then you can file a complaint before competent court.

Hello Harish, We would like to know more about it however below solution will give a clear idea about the proceedings. We have expertise in handling cheque bounce cases, we will be able to help you with this. According to Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, the dishonor of cheque is a criminal offence and is punishable by imprisonment up to two years or with monetary penalty or with both. The payee has to send the notice to the drawer with 30 days from the date of receiving “Cheque Return. Memo” from the bank. The notice should mention that the cheque amount has to be paid to the payee within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice by the drawer. If the cheque issuer fails to make a fresh payment within 30 days of receiving the notice, the payee has the right to file a criminal complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.