Hon’ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J. (Oral)

1. Mr. S.P.S. Panwar, Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. B.D. Pande, Advocate, present for the applicant.

2. Mr. R.P. Nautiyal, Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. Mohit Maulekhi, Advocate, present for the respondent.

3. The present applicant before this Court had filed a complaint before the concerned Magistrate, under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

4. Admittedly, the facts of this case are that the cheques were drawn by the respondent from a bank which is situated in the territory at Nainital in Uttarakhand. Meanwhile, during the pendency of the complaint before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, at Mumbai, the Hon’ble Apex Court delivered its judgment on 01.08.2014, relating to the Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, (Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod v. State of Maharashtra reported in (2014) 9 SCC)*. In the above case, inter alia, it has been held that only that court will have jurisdiction in the matter which has within its territorial jurisdiction the branch of the bank on which the cheque is drawn. Paragraph 22 of the said judgment reads as under:-

“22. We are quite alive to the magnitude of the impact tha