2009 Supreme(Raj) 2266
RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT
H.R.Panwar, J.
Gautam Chand and Anr. - Appellant
Versus
State of Rajasthan and Anr. - Respondent
Cri. Misc. Petn. No. 253 of 2008.
Decided On : 9-09-2009
For the Respondent No. 2:Mr. Mukesh Maheshwari for Mr. Sajjan Singh, Advocates.
For the State: Mrs. Rajlaxmi Singh Choudhary, Public Prosecutor.
Headnote:Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 – S. 138 – Matter related to territorial Jurisdiction as cheque had been issued from Bank located at Pali – Demanded amount issued from Pali but received from Jodhpur – Complaint had been filed at Pali as court held that Pali had jurisdiction to proceed that cause.
"The offence under Section 138 of the Act can be completed only with the concatenation of a number of acts. Following are the acts which are components of the said offence; (1) Drawing of the cheque, (2) Presentation of the cheque to the Bank, (3) Returning the cheque unpaid by the drawee Bank, (4), Giving notice in writing to the drawer of the cheque demanding payment of the cheque amount, (5) failure of the drawer to make payment within 15 days of the receipt of the notice. It is not necessary that all the five acts should have been perpetrated at the same locality. It is possible that each of those five acts could be done at five different localities. But concatenation of all the above five is a sine qua non for the completion of the offence under Section 138 of the Act. Referring to Section 178(d) of Code it is clear that if the five different acts were done in five different localities any one of the Courts exercising jurisdiction in one of the five local areas can become the place of trial for the offence under Section 138 of the Act. In other words, the complainant can choose any one of those Courts having jurisdiction over any one of the local areas within the territorial limits of which any one of those five acts was done. As the amplitude stands so widened and so expansive it is an idle exercise to raise jurisdictional question regarding the offence under Section 138 of the Act."