The jurisdiction for cases under the Negotiable Instrument Act is determined by where the cheque is presented for collection, affirming that local jurisdiction is based on the location of witnesses and notice service.

JUDGMENT :

MANISH CHOUDHURY, J.

Heard Mr. D. Dey, learned counsel for the petitioner.

2. The petitioner has filed the instant transfer petition under Section 447 , Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita [ BNSS ], 2023 seeking transfer of the C proceedings of a complaint case, C.R.[N.I.] Case no. 5316 /2022 from the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Kamrup [M] at Guwahati to the Court of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barpeta at Barpeta.

3. The complaint case, C.R.[N.I.] Case no. 5316 /2022 has been instituted by the respondent herein as the complainant under Section 138 read with Section 142 of the Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, as amended, [‘the N.I. Act’, for short] stating inter alia that a cheque bearing no. 000036 dated 10.04.2022 drawn for an amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- by the petitioner from a bank account maintained by him at Ganeshguri Branch of HDFC Bank stood dishonoured on its presentation for collection by the respondent-complainant at his Bank, AXIS Bank Ltd., Bharalumukh Branch on the ground of insufficiency of fund in the account maintained by the petitioner at HDFC Bank, Ganeshguri Branch. Upon dishonour of the cheque, a legal notice was sent by the respondent-complainant to the petitioner, on 11.07.2022. It has been averred in the complaint that the legal notice sent by registered post on 11.07.2022 was duly delivered to the noticee, that is, the accused-petitioner at his address at Madhurjya Enclave, House no. 85, near Hatigaon Police Station, P.O. Hatigaon, District – Kamrup [M], Assam on 15.07.2022. After elapse of the statutory period, the complaint was filed by the respondent-complainant before the Court of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup [M] at Guwahati on 26.08.2022. Thereafter, the complaint case, registered and numbered as C.R.[N.I.] Case no.C 5316 /2022, was transferred to the Court of the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Kamrup [M] at Guwahati for disposal. In C.R.[N.I.] Case no. 5316 /2022, the petitioner is the sole accused.

4. The main ground on which the instant transfer petition has been preferred by the accused-petitioner is that the petitioner is a Government registered contractor and is a permanent resident of Barpeta district. The petitioner is involved in various construction works in Barpeta as well as in the other neighbouring districts of Barpeta. The petitioner has further averred that the respondent-complainant is also a resident of Barpeta and it is reflected in the complaint itself that the respondent is a resident of Baghmara Char, P.O. –Baghmara, District - Barpeta.

5. Sub-section [2] of Section 142 of the N.I. Act, 1881, as amended, reads as under :-

[2] The offence under section 138 shall be inquired into and tried only by a court within whose local jurisdiction,—

[a] if the cheque is delivered for collection through an account, the branch of the bank where the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account, is situated; or [b] if the cheque is presented for payment by the payee or holder in due course, otherwise through an account, the branch of the drawee bank where the drawer maintains the account, is situated.

Explanation.— For the purposes of clause [a], where a cheque is delivered for collection at any branch of the bank of the payee or holder in due course, then, the cheque shall be deemed to have been delivered to the branch of the bank in which the payee or holder in due course, as the case may be, maintains the account.

6. On a combined reading of the provisions contained in Section 142 [2] and Explanation therein, it is clear that with reference to an offence under Section 138 of the N.I. Act, the place where a cheque is delivered for c