Ingredients of Offence under S.138 of NI Act, 1881

*Ingredients of Offence under S.138 of NI Act, 1881*

Supreme Court has lucidly enumerated the essence of S.138 of NI Act in the following terms: 

“The ingredients of the offence under Section 138 are: 

1. The drawing of a cheque by person on an account maintained by him with the banker for the payment of any amount of money to another from that account; 2. The cheque being drawn for the discharge in whole or in part of any debt or other liability; 3. Presentation of the cheque to the bank; 4. The return of the cheque by the drawee bank as unpaid either because the amount of money standing to the credit of that account is insufficient to honour the cheque or that it exceeds the amount arranged to be paid from that account; 5. A notice by the payee or the holder in due course making a demand for the payment of the amount to the drawer of the cheque within 30 days of the receipt of information from the bank in regard to the return of the cheque; and 6. The drawer of the cheque failing to make payment of the amount of money to the payee or the holder in due course within 15 days of the receipt of the notice.”

Case reference is *Gimpex (P) Ltd. v. Manoj Goel: [2021] GCtR 2419 (SC).*

Full text decision available free of cost at link given below : 

https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2019/24402/24402_2019_34_1502_30692_Judgement_08-Oct-2021.pdf