B. Vijalakshmi v. R. Amaravathi

NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS ACT, 1881

--Dishonour of cheque for insufficienty, etc., of funds in the account--Denial of liability by drawerQuestion of law as to cause of action for filing complaint----The question as to where the drawer of the cheque denied the liability and refused to pay the cheque amount and issued a reply notice to that effect, the payee would wait for expiry of 15 days to file a complaint as provided in section 138(c), was placed before a Division Bench in order to resolve the conflict.--Payee issued statutory notice to the drawer demanding outstanding dues but the drawer denied the said liability. Therefore, payee filed complaint under section 138 against the drawer. Drawer filed criminal petition to quash the proceedings on the ground that the mandatory requirement under section 138(c) was not complied with, as the complaint was filed and cognizance was taken within a period of 15 days before the cause of action arose for filing the complaint. Further, there was no specific averment in the complaint that the drawer failed to pay the cheque amount within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice. The question of law arose for consideration was that where the drawer of the cheque denied the liability and refused to pay the cheque amount and issued a reply notice to that effect, the payee would wait for expiry of 15 days to file a complaint as provided in section 138(c).Held: In view of conflicting decisions on the same issue and in view of the importance of resolving the important question of law that arose for consideration, the matter was placed before a Division Bench in order to resolve the conflict and to come out with an authoritative pronouncement.