Territorial jurisdiction under cheque dishonour law follows amended Section 142(2), overriding earlier rules and prior directions.

For prosecutions under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, territorial jurisdiction is fixed by amended Section 142(2) with reference to the place where the cheque is delivered for collection or presented for payment through the drawee bank. Section 142-A gives the amended jurisdictional scheme overriding effect over the Code of Criminal Procedure and any prior judgment, decree, order or direction. Accordingly, the earlier rule linking jurisdiction to the stage at which evidence had commenced no longer governs such complaints. The complaint was therefore triable only by the court having jurisdiction under the amended provisions, and the contrary revisional finding was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was to be tried at the place where evidence had commenced or at the court having territorial jurisdiction under the amended jurisdictional provisions.

Analysis: The amended Section 142(2) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 made the place where the cheque is delivered for collection, or where it is presented for payment through the drawee bank, determinative of territorial jurisdiction. Section 142-A further gave overriding effect to the amended jurisdictional scheme notwithstanding the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or any prior judgment, decree, order or direction of any court. In view of this statutory change, the earlier rule that jurisdiction depended on the stage at which evidence had begun could not govern the complaint.

Conclusion: The complaint was triable only by the court having jurisdiction under the amended provisions, and the contrary finding of the revisional court was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The order of the trial court was restored, the complaint was directed to be returned for presentation before the competent court, and the revision petition succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: For an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, territorial jurisdiction is determined by the amended Section 142(2), and the overriding effect of Section 142-A displaces prior contrary jurisdictional rules and earlier judicial directions.

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