No notice served, Jbp court acquits man in cheque bounce case

Bhopal/Jabalpur: A Jabalpur court has dismissed a cheque bounce case, stressing that a complaint can't proceed unless the accused is first served a legal notice, and given time to respond.Judicial magistrate first class Gaurav Garg acquitted Alok Agarwal, who had been accused of issuing a cheque of Rs 6 lakh to Harshit Samaiya, after finding that these basic steps were not followed.The case was filed under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act that requires the complainant to serve a legal notice and wait for the prescribed 60 days before approaching the court.The court noted that, according to Samaiya, the cheque was issued on Nov 10, 2020, and was later dishonoured due to insufficient funds. He then filed a complaint under the Act. Samaiya was himself a witness in the case, and an employee of the bank concerned. But, he failed to produce evidence that he had served a legal notice to Agarwal for cheque bounce and filed the plaint in the court 60 days after the notice was served. In such a situation, the accused is acquitted as the legal prerequisite to file a plaint of cheque bounce was not met.tnn