Territorial jurisdiction in cheque dishonour cases may lie where any constituent act occurs, based on complaint averments alone.

Territorial jurisdiction for a prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is not confined to the place of dishonour alone, because the offence is made up of multiple constituent acts, including drawing, presentation, dishonour, notice, and failure to pay. Where any part of those acts occurs in a local area, jurisdiction may lie there under the Code of Criminal Procedure. At the pre-summoning stage, the Magistrate must rely on the complaint's averments and form only a prima facie view, without conducting a factual inquiry into their truth. A complaint disclosing that part of the cause of action arose in Delhi could therefore not be returned solely for want of territorial jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether the complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 could be returned for want of territorial jurisdiction at the pre-summoning stage when the complaint disclosed that some of the acts constituting the offence had occurred in Delhi.

Analysis: Territorial jurisdiction for an offence under Section 138 is not determined by the place of dishonour alone. The offence is completed only by the concatenation of the statutory acts, namely drawing of the cheque, presentation, dishonour, issuance of notice, and failure to pay within the prescribed period. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, where different parts of the offence occur in different local areas, jurisdiction may lie in any such area. At the stage of taking cognizance, the Magistrate is required to examine only the averments in the complaint and form a prima facie view, without embarking on a factual inquiry into their truth.

Conclusion: The complaint could not be returned at the pre-summoning stage solely for want of territorial jurisdiction, since the averments disclosed that part of the cause of action arose in Delhi.

Ratio Decidendi: For a prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, territorial jurisdiction may rest in any local area where one or more constituent acts of the offence occurred, and the complaint must be tested at the cognizance stage on its averments alone.

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