Cheque under Section 138 requires payment on demand; instruments lacking that feature cannot sustain dishonour proceedings.

An instrument issued under an arrangement is not a cheque for section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act unless it is a bill of exchange drawn on a banker and payable on demand. Refund orders, fixed deposit receipts, or interest warrants that do not expressly carry that demand feature cannot acquire cheque character merely because they are described as cheques in a complaint. Where that foundational requirement is absent, the statutory offence of dishonour is not made out on the face of the complaint, and proceedings on that basis are liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether refund orders, fixed deposit receipts, or interest warrants issued in pursuance of an arrangement, which do not expressly state that they are payable on demand, constitute a cheque within the meaning of section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, and whether proceedings for dishonour thereof are liable to be quashed.

Analysis: A cheque under section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act must be a bill of exchange drawn on a banker and payable on demand. The document in question was not styled as a cheque and did not contain the essential characteristic of being payable on demand. Mere description of the instrument as a cheque in the complaint could not alter its legal character. Since the foundational requirement of section 138 was absent, the statutory offence was not made out on the face of the complaint.

Conclusion: The document did not constitute a cheque within the meaning of section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, and the proceedings were liable to be quashed against the petitioner.

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