Cheque validity under Section 138 is a condition precedent; belated presentation defeats criminal liability and quashes the complaint.

Presentation of a cheque within its validity period is a condition precedent for criminal liability under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Where the cheque is admitted to have been presented after expiry of that period, no cause of action arises and the prosecution is not maintainable. The Karnataka High Court noted that the reduced three-month validity period applied, and the belated presentation went to the root of the complaint. On those admitted facts, the summoning order could not be sustained and the complaint was quashed.

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Issues: Whether a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was liable to be quashed where the cheque was presented beyond its validity period and, consequently, the summoning order could not be sustained.

Analysis: Section 138 requires that the cheque be presented to the bank within the period of its validity or within six months, whichever is earlier, and the period had been reduced to three months by the RBI direction issued under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The cheque in question was admittedly presented after expiry of the validity period. In such a situation, no cause of action accrues for an offence under Section 138, and the failure to present the cheque within the prescribed time goes to the root of the maintainability of the prosecution. The challenge at the stage of summoning was therefore not barred merely because notice had not yet been framed.

Conclusion: The complaint was held not maintainable on the admitted facts, and the summoning order was quashed. The petition was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Presentation of a cheque within the statutory validity period is a condition precedent for fastening criminal liability under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; if the cheque is presented beyond that period, no cause of action arises.

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