Deemed service of statutory notice under Section 138 starts the 15-day clock from receipt of returned notice, not postal endorsement.

A complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act was found premature because the statutory notice, sent to the correct address, was returned unclaimed and the complainant filed the case before expiry of 15 days from the date of deemed receipt of the returned cover or intimation of non-service. The note states that where notice is returned with an endorsement such as unclaimed, refused, locked, or not available, service is deemed in law; for computing the waiting period, the relevant date is when the complainant receives the returned notice or is otherwise informed, not the postal endorsement date. On that basis, the complaint was held not maintainable and the acquittal was confirmed.

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Issues: Whether the complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act was filed before the cause of action arose because the statutory notice was returned unclaimed and the complaint was instituted without waiting for the expiry of 15 days from the date of deemed service.

Analysis: The cheque and liability were concurrently found proved, and the only surviving question was the computation of the notice period. Where a notice sent to the correct address is returned with an endorsement such as locked, refused, unclaimed, or not available, service is deemed in law. For reckoning the 15-day period under the proviso to Section 138, the relevant date is the date on which the complainant receives the returned postal cover or is otherwise informed of the non-service, not the date of the postal endorsement. On the facts, the complaint was filed before expiry of 15 days from that deemed date of receipt, so the cause of action had not matured.

Conclusion: The complaint was premature and not maintainable; the acquittal recorded by the appellate court was and the challenge to it failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal stood dismissed and the acquittal of the accused was confirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: When a statutory notice under Section 138 is returned unclaimed or otherwise undelivered, the 15-day waiting period begins from the date the complainant receives the returned notice or is informed of the non-service, and a complaint filed before expiry of that period is premature.

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