Commission of an offence and imposition of punishment shall apply only after the satisfaction of three conditions as stipulated in Section 138(a), (b) and (c) of the NI Act, 1881 – Diptendu Banerjee Vs. The State of West Bengal and Anr. – Calcutta High Court
The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court held that it is clear that commission of an offence and imposition of punishment shall apply only after the satisfaction of three conditions as stipulated in Sub-Sections (a), (b) and (c) of Section 138 of the N.I. Act, 1881. Section 138 is the charging section that creates criminal liability in case of dishonour of a cheque and its main ingredients are: i) Issuance of a cheque, ii) Presentation of the cheque, iii) Dishonour of the cheque, iv) Service of statutory notice on the person sought to be made liable and v) Non-compliance or non-payment in pursuance of the notice within 15 days of the receipt of the notice.