Deemed service of statutory notice under cheque dishonour law was upheld despite unclaimed registered post and minor address error.

Statutory notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is treated as duly served where it is sent to the correct address, minor pin-code error does not defeat service, intimation is delivered, and the addressee fails to collect the registered article. The presumption arising from registered post and the doctrine of deemed service were applied to reject the claim of defective notice. On that basis, the concurrent findings were found free from illegality, and the conviction and sentence were upheld.

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Issues: Whether the statutory notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was duly served so as to sustain the conviction and sentence.

Analysis: The accused admitted the cheque signature and the dispute centered on service of notice. The evidence of the postal officials showed that the notice had been sent to the correct address with only a minor error in the pin code, that intimation was delivered at the apartment, and that the addressee failed to collect the registered article from the post office. In these circumstances, the service could not be treated as defective merely because the postal cover was returned unclaimed. Applying the settled principles governing deemed service and the presumption arising from registered post, the Court found no illegality in the concurrent findings of the courts below.

Conclusion: The statutory notice was held to have been sufficiently served, and the conviction and sentence were upheld.

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