📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Sumita Roy Dutta
Crime
HP Court Receives Complaint Over Premature 15‑Day Cheque Bounce Period
✍️ Live Law
🗓 05 Oct 2026, 02:01 PM
👁 13
A complaint has been filed in Himachal Pradesh alleging that the 15‑day payment period for cheque bounce is premature and that deemed service was invoked before the period expired.
A formal complaint has been lodged in a Himachal Pradesh court, challenging the timing of the deemed service under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The petitioner argues that the 15‑day payment window for a bounced cheque has been prematurely considered expired, thereby invoking service before the statutory period elapses.
The complaint contends that the court’s application of deemed service violates the procedural safeguards designed to protect the payee’s right to settle the cheque within the prescribed timeframe. It seeks a review of the decision and a reversal of any penalties imposed on the payee.
Under the Act, a cheque is deemed to have bounced only after the 15‑day period has passed, unless the payee takes action earlier. The petitioner claims that the court’s early invocation of deemed service undermines this statutory provision.
If the court upholds the complaint, it could set a precedent for how early deemed service is applied in similar cases across India, potentially affecting the enforcement of cheque bounce penalties nationwide.
The complaint contends that the court’s application of deemed service violates the procedural safeguards designed to protect the payee’s right to settle the cheque within the prescribed timeframe. It seeks a review of the decision and a reversal of any penalties imposed on the payee.
Under the Act, a cheque is deemed to have bounced only after the 15‑day period has passed, unless the payee takes action earlier. The petitioner claims that the court’s early invocation of deemed service undermines this statutory provision.
If the court upholds the complaint, it could set a precedent for how early deemed service is applied in similar cases across India, potentially affecting the enforcement of cheque bounce penalties nationwide.