https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=799254 Section 138 requires a cheque to be presented within its validity period. Following the merger of Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank, legacy Syndicate Bank cheques remained valid for presentation only until 30 June 2021, after which the former banking codes were permanently disabled. Presentation of such a cheque in 2025 therefore involved an invalid instrument. Dishonour of an invalid cheque does not trigger criminal liability under Section 138, and prosecution based on it would constitute an abuse of process. en-us Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 19 Sep 2026 08:20:55 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=799254 Section 138 requires a cheque to be presented within its validity period. Following the merger of Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank, legacy Syndicate Bank cheques remained valid for presentation only until 30 June 2021, after which the former banking codes were permanently disabled. Presentation of such a cheque in 2025 therefore involved an invalid instrument. Dishonour of an invalid cheque does not trigger criminal liability under Section 138, and prosecution based on it would constitute an abuse of process. Case-Laws Indian Laws Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=799254