A cheque dishonour prosecution under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 requires strict compliance with a sequence of statutory steps: timely presentation of the cheque, written demand notice within thirty days of receiving dishonour information, thirty days for the drawer to pay after receiving notice, and filing the written complaint within one month after the cause of action arises. Failure to comply with a mandatory step may defeat the criminal complaint even where an underlying debt exists.
As of 10 April 2026, the trial court depends on the cheque’s face value. Cases involving cheques exceeding Tk 5 lakh are tried by the Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge or Joint Sessions Judge, while other section 138 cases are tried by a Metropolitan Magistrate or Magistrate of the First Class.
Governing law
Sections 138 to 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 govern the principal offence, company liability, evidential matters, complaints, limitation, and jurisdiction.
Section 138 applies where a cheque drawn by a person on an account maintained by that person, for discharge in whole or in part of a debt or other liability, is returned unpaid for the statutory reason concerning insufficient funds or because it exceeds the arrangement with the bank. The section provides punishment of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine that may extend to three times the amount of the cheque, or both.
The statutory conditions in the proviso to section 138 must be satisfied before the offence is complete.
The cheque must represent a debt or liability
The cheque must be connected with a legally relevant debt or other liability, in whole or in part. A cheque may relate to a loan, price of goods, service fee, settlement obligation, repayment arrangement, or another enforceable liability.
The existence of a signed cheque does not prevent the accused from disputing the underlying transaction. Questions may arise concerning payment already made, absence of consideration, alteration, authority, conditional delivery, misuse, fraud, or whether liability had matured when the cheque was presented.
A cheque described as a “security cheque” is not automatically outside section 138. The decisive issues include the agreement, purpose of delivery, whether an enforceable liability existed when the cheque was presented, and the evidence. Because Bangladesh decisions concerning security and post-dated cheques are fact-sensitive, no universal rule should be stated without examining the underlying transaction.
Step one: Presenting the cheque
The cheque must be presented to the bank within six months from the date on which it was drawn or within its period of validity, whichever is earlier.
Banking practice may prescribe a shorter operational validity period. The statutory wording itself uses six months or validity, whichever is earlier. A claimant should therefore present promptly rather than rely on the maximum period.
The original cheque, deposit slip, bank return memorandum, and account statement should be preserved. The return memorandum should identify the date and stated reason for dishonour.
Step two: Demand notice within thirty days
The payee or holder in due course must make a written demand for payment by giving notice to the drawer within thirty days of receiving information from the bank that the cheque was returned unpaid.
The notice should accurately identify the cheque number, date, bank, branch, amount, dishonour date, underlying liability, and demand for payment. It should not materially misstate the amount or transaction.
Section 138 recognises statutory modes of service, including delivery to the person, registered post with acknowledgement due to the usual or last known place of business or residence, and publication in a widely circulated national Bangla daily newspaper in the circumstances contemplated by the section. The exact mode and evidence of service should be selected carefully.
Sending a notice is not always the same as proving valid statutory service. Preserve the signed notice, postal receipt, acknowledgement card, returned envelope, tracking record, delivery report, newspaper copy, publication invoice, and any response.
Step three: Thirty days for payment
After receiving the statutory notice, the drawer has thirty days to pay the cheque amount. The offence is not complete immediately upon bank dishonour or immediately upon dispatch of the notice.
The cause of action under section 138 arises when the drawer fails to make payment within thirty days after receipt of the notice. The service date is therefore critical to calculating the next deadline.
Where delivery is disputed, the court may need to determine the legally effective date from postal records, acknowledgement, refusal, return endorsement, publication, or other admissible evidence.
Step four: Filing the complaint
Section 141 requires a written complaint by the payee or holder in due course. The complaint must be filed within one month from the date on which the cause of action under section 138 arises.
The calculation should be made from the expiry of the drawer’s thirty-day payment period following receipt of the notice. It should not be calculated merely from the dishonour date or date the notice was written.
The statutory timeline is strict. Section 141 should not be assumed to contain a general power permitting an unlimited extension of time. Where the last day falls on a court holiday or an unusual service issue arises, the computation should be reviewed immediately under the applicable procedural and limitation rules.
Current trial court after the 2026 amendment
The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2026, Act No. 65 of 2026, amended section 141(c) with effect from 10 April 2026.
A section 138 offence concerning a cheque whose face value exceeds Tk 5 lakh is triable by the Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge or Joint Sessions Judge. All other section 138 offences are triable by a Metropolitan Magistrate or Magistrate of the First Class.
This is a recent jurisdictional amendment. For a complaint filed before 10 April 2026 or a case transferred during the preceding ordinance period, the current court record and any administrative transfer order should be checked rather than assuming the case must be refiled.
Documents required
A complainant should ordinarily preserve and produce:
the original cheque;
the deposit slip or evidence of presentation;
the bank dishonour or return memorandum;
documents proving the underlying debt or liability;
the statutory legal notice;
proof of dispatch and service;
the acknowledgement card, returned envelope, tracking record, or newspaper publication;
proof of the complainant’s identity and legal status;
company resolutions or authorisation where the complainant is an entity;
a chronology showing each statutory deadline; and
the written complaint with witness and document particulars required by the court.
Although the article is written mainly in paragraphs, the sequence above should be treated as a file-preparation checklist. Missing the original cheque, return memorandum, or service evidence can materially weaken the case.
Cheques issued by companies
Section 140 addresses offences committed by companies. Where a company commits the offence, the company and persons who, at the relevant time, were in charge of and responsible for the conduct of its business may be proceeded against, subject to the statutory defence concerning absence of knowledge or exercise of due diligence.
Where the offence occurred with the consent or connivance of, or was attributable to neglect by, a director, manager, secretary, or other officer, that person may also incur liability.
Mere designation as a director should not replace the need to plead and prove the statutory connection with responsibility, consent, connivance, or neglect. The complaint should state the role of each accused rather than reproduce only a generic formula.
Civil recovery and criminal prosecution
A section 138 complaint is a criminal statutory proceeding. The underlying amount may also support a civil claim for recovery, depending on the contract, acknowledgement, limitation period, and evidence.
The remedies serve different purposes. A criminal complaint does not automatically produce every civil remedy, and filing a civil claim does not automatically satisfy the section 138 notice and complaint requirements.
Settlement should be documented carefully. Payment of the cheque amount, withdrawal or disposal of the complaint, interest, costs, releases, and treatment of any civil claim should be stated clearly.
Appeal deposit
Section 138A restricts an appeal against a sentence under section 138 unless the appellant deposits at least fifty per cent of the cheque amount in the court that passed the sentence.
This requirement should be considered before advising on appeal. The statutory deposit is distinct from bail, fine payment, or settlement.
Re-presentation of a cheque
A cheque may sometimes be presented more than once during its validity. Bangladesh case-law indexes indicate that a fresh dishonour may generate a fresh notice and cause of action where all statutory conditions are again satisfied within the cheque’s validity.
However, an official full-text Appellate Division judgment establishing the precise boundaries of this principle, together with a reliably verified report citation, was not retrieved during this review. The proposition should therefore be applied only after checking current Supreme Court authority and the dates of presentation, notice, service, and complaint.
Reasons for dishonour
The text of section 138 specifically refers to insufficiency of funds and the cheque amount exceeding the arrangement with the bank. Courts may examine the substance of other return reasons, such as stop-payment instructions, closed accounts, signature issues, or technical defects, in light of the facts and precedent.
This article does not state that every returned cheque automatically constitutes a section 138 offence. The bank’s stated reason and the evidence concerning the account should be examined by an advocate before filing.
Relevant courts and authorities
The drawee bank provides the return memorandum. The criminal complaint is filed before the court with jurisdiction under the amended section 141(c).
Appeals and revisions proceed according to the applicable criminal procedure and statutory provisions. Civil recovery claims are brought before the competent civil court or pursued through arbitration where a valid arbitration agreement applies.
Case-law verification status
Statutory verification, including the 2026 amendment, was completed using the official legislation and Gazette.
The case-law verification stage did not produce official online full-text copies with sufficiently reliable reported citations for several frequently repeated propositions concerning security cheques, repeated presentation, stop-payment instructions, and parallel civil proceedings. Those propositions have therefore not been attributed to uncertain case names.
Before publication of a case-specific follow-up article, the relevant Appellate Division and High Court Division reports should be checked in the official or bound law reports.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes include sending notice after thirty days, calculating the complaint period from the wrong date, failing to prove service, presenting an expired cheque, filing before the drawer’s thirty-day payment period has expired, filing in the wrong court, and failing to connect the cheque to a debt or liability.
Other mistakes include suing every company director without pleading responsibility, relying only on a photocopy, misstating the cheque amount, ignoring recent jurisdictional amendments, and assuming that a police complaint replaces the statutory complaint procedure.
For related Ain.bd guidance, see Breach of Contract: Available Remedies and Compensation, Directors’ Legal Duties and Liabilities under Company Law, and Offer, Acceptance and Consideration Explained with Practical Examples.
Law updated as of 13 July 2026.
Primary-source references
The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, sections 138, 138A, 140 and 141; and the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2026, Act No. 65 of 2026, effective 10 April 2026.
Disclaimer
This article provides general legal information and is not legal advice. Cheque cases are highly deadline-sensitive, and the correct procedure depends on presentation, dishonour, notice, service, the underlying liability, the identity of the drawer, and the applicable court. Consult a licensed advocate in Bangladesh immediately after dishonour or receipt of a statutory notice.