JUDGMENT :

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the parties, heard finally.

2. The Petitioner assails the legality, propriety and correctness of an order dated 20 December 2022, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge (Borivali Division), Mumbai in Criminal Revision Application No.63 of 2021, whereby the Revision preferred by the Petitioner came to be dismissed, affirming the order dated 22 January 2021, passed by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, 43rd Court, Borivali, in CC 261/Misc/2020, condoning the delay of 1259 days in filing the complaint for an offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (the Act, 1881).

3. Shorn of unnecessary details, the background facts can be stated as under :

3.1 For the sake of convenience and clarity, the parties are referred to in the capacity in which they are arrayed before the learned Magistrate.

3.2 The complainant-Respondent No.2 claimed to have rendered certain consultancy services to the accused-Petitioner, who runs M/s. Chetak Construction Company and other entities. The consultancy charges were overdue. A purported settlement was arrived at between the complainant and the accus