Limitation for cheque dishonour notice under Section 138(b) runs from bank intimation, excluding the date of receipt.

Section 138(b) of the Negotiable Instruments Act requires the written demand notice to be issued within thirty days of receipt of bank information about dishonour, and the date of receipt is excluded in computing limitation under Section 9 of the General Clauses Act. Applying that rule, the notices were posted within thirty days of the complainant's bank intimation, so the limitation challenge based on the cheque return memo dates was not accepted. The alternative factual plea that knowledge was acquired earlier was left for trial, and the quashing petitions were rejected.

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Issues: Whether the legal demand notices issued under Section 138(b) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 were within the prescribed period of thirty days, and whether the date on which information of dishonour was received by the complainant had to be excluded while computing limitation.

Analysis: Section 138(b) requires a written demand notice to be issued within thirty days of receipt of information from the bank regarding dishonour. The period is to be computed by excluding the date on which such information is received. The legal position was reinforced by the interpretation of limitation under the Negotiable Instruments Act in the cited authorities, including the application of Section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. On the facts, the complainant relied on the dates on which return statements were received from its bank, and the notices were found to have been posted within thirty days of that intimation. The alternative plea that the notices were time-barred on the basis of the cheque return memo dates was not accepted, though the factual defence that knowledge had been obtained earlier was left open for trial.

Conclusion: The notices were held to be within limitation and the petitions for quashing were rejected.

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