🌟 LEGAL LEARNING SHRI GANPATI JURISTS
⚖️ Jurisdiction in Dishonour of Account Payee Cheques — Supreme Court Rule
📌 Key Holding
✔️ Complaints under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 for dishonour of account-payee cheques must be filed only before the court having jurisdiction over the bank branch where the payee maintains his account (Home Branch).
✔️ Place of deposit ≠ Jurisdiction — Even if the cheque is deposited in another branch, jurisdiction remains with the home branch court of the payee's bank.
🧾 Court Clarification
Depositing the cheque at any other branch for commercial ease does not shift jurisdiction.
Law uses a statutory deeming fiction to eliminate forum shopping and ensure uniformity.
📘 Statutory Basis Introduced in 2015
🔹 Section 142(2)(a) creates a legal fiction:
Even if a cheque is deposited at any branch of the bank where the payee holds an account, it is legally deemed to be delivered at the home branch for the purpose of jurisdiction.
✅ Purpose:
✔ Prevent forum shopping
✔ Ensure consistency in prosecuting cheque-bounce cases
🖋️ Interpretation by Court
Delivery is only “legal” for home branch, not “commercial”.
Commercial deposit at another branch is allowed, but legally still treated as delivery to home branch.
🗣️ Supreme Court Quote on Legal Fiction
“A cheque when delivered for collection through an account at any branch of the payee's bank, shall be deemed delivered to the home branch.”
✅ Practical Takeaways for Lawyers & Litigants
✔ If cheque is Account Payee → File
complaint in home branch jurisdiction of payee's bank
✔ Branch of deposit does not matter
✔ Section 46 (delivery) & Section 64 (presentment) serve separate legal purposes
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