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TMI Blog2013 (7) TMI 680X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pellant herein is the Director of M/s Byrni Steel Private Limited and his father Mr. B.L. Aggarwal is the Managing Director of M/s Mechfeb Engineering Industries Private Limited situated at Meghalaya and Guwahati. The respondent was associated with both the abovementioned firms as he used to bring business from various private firms and Government Departments on commission basis. b) During the course of business, the appellant herein issued a post-dated cheque bearing No. 925504 dated 01.08.2009 drawn on Standard Chartered Bank, Guwahati, for Rs. 28,62,700/- in favour of the complainant-respondent herein in order to discharge his legal enforceable liabilities. Vide letter dated 21.01.2006, the appellant informed the Branch Manager, Standard Chartered Bank, Guwahati, as well as the officer in-charge, Dispur Police Station, Guwahati regarding missing of the said cheque. Thereafter, on 28.03.2008, the appellant wrote a letter to the Standard Chartered Bank for stop payment of the said cheque as the same was missing. c) According to the respondent, on 13.08.2009, when he presented the same for collection through its bankers, viz., Canara Bank, Bhiwani, Haryana, it was returned unpaid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... senior counsel for the respondent-the complainant. 6) It is the claim of the appellant that the present case is not covered by the judgment of this Court in K. Bhaskaran vs. Sankaran Vaidhyan Balan and Another, (1999) 7 SCC 510. On the other hand, it is the specific claim of the respondent that insofar as territorial jurisdiction of the case on hand, namely, complaint filed under Section 138 of the N.I. Act is concerned, the decision of this Court in K. Bhasaran (supra) squarely applies, accordingly, the Court at Bhiwani is competent to try and dispose of the complaint filed by him. It is also pointed out that the said issue was rightly considered and accepted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani as well as by the High Court. 7) We have already narrated the case of both the parties in the pleadings portion. In order to answer the only question, it is relevant to note that the undisputed facts in the context of territorial jurisdiction of the learned Magistrate at Bhiwani are that the drawee of the cheque i.e., the respondent/complainant is a resident of Bhiwani. The native village of the respondent, namely, village Barsana is situated in District Bhiwani. The respondent owns ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pay the amount covered by the cheque. A place, for that purpose, would depend upon a variety of factors. It can either be at the place where the drawer resides or at the place where the payee resides or at the place where either of them carries on business. Hence, the difficulty to fix up any particular locality as the place of occurrence for the offence under Section 138 of the Act. It is clear that this Court also discussed the relevant provisions of the Code, particularly, Sections 177, 178 and 179 and in the light of the language used, interpreted Section 138 of the N.I. Act and laid down that Section 138 has five components, namely, i) drawing of the cheque; ii) presentation of the cheque to the bank; iii) returning the cheque unpaid by the drawee bank; iv) giving notice in writing to the drawer of the cheque demanding payment of the cheque amount; and v) failure of the drawer to make payment within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. After saying so, this Court concluded that the complainant can choose any one of the five places to file a complaint. The further discussion in the said judgment is extracted hereunder: "14. The offence under Section 138 of the Act can ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (supra), while considering the territorial jurisdiction at great length, this Court has concluded that the amplitude of territorial jurisdiction pertaining to a complaint under the N.I. Act is very wide and expansive and we are in entire agreement with the same. 10) Mr. Ahmadi, learned senior counsel for the appellant in support of his claim that the Court at Bhiwani has no jurisdiction heavily relied on the decision of this Court in Shri Ishar Alloy Steels Ltd. vs. Jayaswals Neco Ltd., (2001) 3 SCC 609. We were taken through the entire judgment. Though the case is also related to N.I. Act, the issue of territorial jurisdiction was not the subject-matter thereof. In Ishar Alloy Steels (supra), a three-Judge Bench of this Court defined the term "the bank" appearing in clause (a) of Section 138 of the N.I. Act as the drawer's bank. It was defined in the context of the statutory period of six months as mentioned in clause (a), hence, this Court held that the date of presentation of the cheque for calculating the statutory time period of six months will be the date of presentation of the cheque to the drawer's bank i.e. payee bank and not the drawee's bank i.e. collecting bank. This ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s Limited and Another, reported in 2010 (3) Maharashtra Law Journal 234. The Division Bench, after analyzing the factual position of both sides, correctly applied the ratio laid down in K. Bhaskaran (supra) finding that the Mumbai Court has jurisdiction to entertain the complaint, dismissed the said writ petition. 12) Mr. Ahmadi, learned senior counsel for the appellant has also relied on a decision of this Court in Harman Electronics Private Limited and Another vs. National Panasonic India Private Limited, (2009) 1 SCC 720. In Harman Electronics (supra), the complainant and the accused entered into a business transaction. The accused was a resident of Chandigarh. He carried on the business in Chandigarh and issued a cheque in question at Chandigarh. The complainant had a Branch Office at Chandigarh although his Head Office was at Delhi. He presented the cheque given by the accused at Chandigarh. The cheque was dishonoured at Chandigarh. The complainant issued a notice upon the accused asking him to pay the amount from New Delhi. The said notice was served on the accused at Chandigarh. On failure on the part of the accused to pay the amount within 15 days from the date of the comm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ispute that the dishonour of the cheque also took place at Chandigarh and, therefore, the only question which arose before this Court for consideration was whether the sending of notice from Delhi itself would give rise to a cause of action in taking cognizance under the N.I. Act. In such circumstances, we are of the view that Harman Electronics (supra) is only an authority on the question where a court will have jurisdiction because only notice is issued from the place which falls within its jurisdiction and it does not deviate from the other principles laid down in K. Bhaskaran (supra). This Court has accepted that the place where the cheque was presented and dishonoured has jurisdiction to try the complaint. In this way, this Court concluded that issuance of notice would not by itself give rise to a cause of action but communication of the notice would. In other words, the court clarified only on the service in such notice and failure on the part of the accused to pay the demanded amount within a period of 15 days, thereafter, the commission of an offence completes. We are of the view that this Court in Harman Electronics (supra) affirmed what it had said in K. Bhaskaran (supra) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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