Dishonour of cheque notice challenged for omnibus demand invalidity, resulting in quashing of criminal summons.

Negotiable Instruments Act matter concerning validity of statutory notice for cheque dishonour where the notice included an omnibus demand beyond the cheque amount together with interest, damages and notice charges; the presence of an unspecified omnibus claim renders the demand notice noncompliant with statutory requirement and invalid, applying the principle in Suman Sethi that additional omnibus demands vitiate a s.138 notice, and consequently the criminal summoning order based on such notice was quashed.

---

---

Issues: Whether Annexure P-2 demand notice dated 02.12.2013 complies with the statutory notice requirement under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and is therefore valid for sustaining the summoning order dated 19.01.2016.

Analysis: The applicable legal test requires that a demand notice under Section 138 must, read as a whole, make a clear demand for the cheque amount; additional claims for interest, costs or damages may be severable if the cheque amount is separately specified. A demand that is omnibus and does not clearly segregate the cheque amount may fail the statutory requirement. Applying that test to Annexure P-2 shows the notice made an omnibus demand for Rs. 6,50,000 which is not the cheque amount and also included demands for interest, monthly damages and notice charges without a clear separation of the cheque amount from other claims.

Conclusion: Annexure P-2 is invalid for being an omnibus demand that does not satisfy the statutory requirement of distinctly demanding the cheque amount; accordingly the summoning order based on that notice cannot be sustained and must be quashed, which favours the appellant.

---