Limitation for cheque-dishonour complaints under the Negotiable Instruments Act bars cognizance unless delay is properly explained.

A complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act must be filed only after the drawer fails to pay within the fifteen-day period following statutory notice, and then within one month from accrual of the cause of action under Section 142 unless delay is satisfactorily explained. Where the complaint is instituted after expiry of that period and no legally sustainable ground for condonation is shown, cognizance is barred and the summoning order cannot be sustained. The text applies this limitation framework to cheque-dishonour prosecution and states that belated proceedings are liable to be annulled for non-compliance with the statutory time limit.

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Issues: Whether the complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 was filed beyond the statutory period of limitation and whether the summoning order and consequent criminal proceedings were liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The statutory scheme requires the payee to issue notice within the prescribed time after dishonour, and the drawer gets fifteen days to make payment. The cause of action for prosecution arises only on failure to pay within those fifteen days, and a complaint must then be filed within one month under Section 142 unless sufficient cause for delay is shown. On the admitted dates, the complaint was instituted well after the expiry of the prescribed period, and the complaint did not disclose any reason justifying the delay. In the absence of a legally sustainable explanation for condonation, cognizance could not have been taken.

Conclusion: The complaint was time-barred and the summoning order could not be sustained; the challenge succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The criminal proceedings based on the belated complaint were liable to be annulled for non-compliance with the statutory limitation governing prosecution for cheque dishonour.

Ratio Decidendi: A complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 must be filed within one month from the date the cause of action arises after expiry of the fifteen-day payment period, and cognizance is barred unless delay is satisfactorily explained under Section 142.

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