A cheque has bounced, or someone owes me money
Most money recovery in Jodhpur starts with a returned cheque, and Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is the route it takes. It is a deadline-driven remedy rather than an argumentative one — a good case is lost far more often on a missed date or a badly served notice than on the merits.
Do these first
- Find the bank's return memo. Its date, not the date you discovered the problem, starts the thirty-day notice period.
- Do not present the cheque again before taking advice — it changes which memo the clock runs from.
- Note the branch where you deposited it. That decides which court hears the case.
- Collect whatever shows what the money was for. The cheque proves the payment failed, not what it was owed for.
How the procedure runs
Return memo
The bank's memo is the starting date. Everything else counts from it.
Notice
Within thirty days of the memo. The drawer then has fifteen days to pay.
Complaint
Filed after those fifteen days, within the next thirty, before the magistrate at Jodhpur.
Trial or settlement
Summary trial with evidence on affidavit, or compounding under Section 147.
Execution
On the civil side. This is the stage that actually produces money.
Timelines vary with the court and the matter. This is the order of events, not a promise about how long each takes.
What actually decides a matter like this
Not the arguing. These are the things that move the outcome, and most of them are settled long before a hearing.
The two clocks, and they run one after the other
The notice must go within thirty days of the bank's return memo. The drawer then has fifteen days to pay. The complaint must be filed within thirty days after that fifteen expires — not before it, and not after. Filing late needs a separate written application for condonation under the proviso to Section 142; without one the complaint is liable to be thrown out whatever the merits.
Whether the cheque was for a legally enforceable debt
Section 139 presumes it was, which is why these cases start in the holder's favour. The presumption is rebuttable, so the real contest is usually the defence that the cheque was security, or blank, or for an amount already paid — and that is fought on the account books, not on the cheque.
Which branch you banked it at
Jurisdiction under Section 142(2) follows the branch where the payee presented the cheque. Deposit it in Jodhpur and the case is heard in Jodhpur. That single decision is often what determines whether you spend the next two years travelling.
Whether it is worth running criminal and civil together
A Section 138 complaint punishes; it does not by itself hand you a decree. A suit for recovery — a summary suit under Order 37 where the debt is on a written instrument — is what produces an enforceable decree, and the two can run in parallel. Which combination is right depends on whether the debtor has anything to attach.
Limitation on the money, separately from the cheque
The criminal clock is measured in days. The civil claim is generally three years from when the debt fell due, and a written acknowledgement or part payment can restart it. People who chase informally for two years often preserve the cheque case and lose the suit.
What I will do
- Read the return memo and the dates first, and tell you in the first sitting which of the two clocks is running and how much of it is left
- Draft and dispatch the statutory notice within the thirty-day window, in a form that works as evidence later rather than only as pressure now
- File and conduct the Section 138 complaint before the magistrate at Jodhpur, including evidence on affidavit under Section 145 rather than by repeated attendance
- Apply for interim compensation under Section 143A, so money can start moving before judgment
- Run a parallel summary suit under Order 37, or an ordinary money suit where the debt is not on an instrument
- Applications for attachment before judgment where assets may be moved, and execution afterwards — the stage most creditors neglect and the only one that produces payment
- Defence work on the other side: the proviso to Section 274 of the BNSS now allows a magistrate to discharge an accused in a summons case where the accusation is groundless, which did not exist under the old Section 251
- Settlement recorded before the court and compounded under Section 147, so the terms are enforceable rather than promised
What you will need to bring
- The cheque itself and the bank's return memo, with the date on it
- Proof of what the money was for — agreement, invoices, ledger, or messages acknowledging the debt
- Which branch you deposited the cheque at, since it decides where the case is heard
- Any earlier notice or reply already exchanged
- The debtor's address, and whatever you know about their business and assets
- Dates: when the debt fell due, and when you last received anything
Mistakes that cost people these cases
- Presenting the cheque a second time and then losing track of which return memo the thirty-day notice runs from
- Sending the notice by ordinary post with no proof of dispatch or service
- Filing the complaint during the fifteen-day period rather than after it — premature filing is as fatal as late filing
- Missing the thirty-day limit and filing without a written condonation application
- Treating one notice as covering several cheques. Each dishonoured cheque is its own cause of action
- Winning the criminal case and never filing execution on the civil side, so no money ever arrives
- Accepting part payment with nothing in writing recording what it was paid towards
When you may not need me
If the drawer is willing to pay and only the timing is open, a written settlement between you may be enough, though the wording is worth checking. Courts routinely refer these matters to Lok Adalat and they settle there often — that route costs nothing and closes the case faster than a trial. And if the debtor genuinely has no assets, the honest answer is that a decree will not produce money and the cost of chasing it is not worth spending.
Matters handled
- Cheque bounce complaints under Section 138
- Statutory notices and replies
- Defending a Section 138 complaint
- Summary suits and money suits
- Business, trade and friendly loans
- Attachment and execution
- Settlement and compounding
Provisions that apply
- NI Act 138 — Dishonour of a cheque — up to two years, or fine to twice the amount
- NI Act 139 — Presumption that the cheque was for a legally enforceable debt
- NI Act 142 — Thirty days to complain; late filing needs written condonation
- NI Act 142(2) — Jurisdiction follows the payee's bank branch
- NI Act 143 · 145 — Summary trial, and evidence on affidavit
- NI Act 143A · 148 — Interim compensation at trial; deposit on appeal
- NI Act 147 — The offence is compoundable — settlement is available throughout
- BNSS 274 — Substance of accusation, and a new power to discharge in summons cases
- CPC Order 37 · 38 · 21 — Summary suit, attachment before judgment, execution
- Limitation Act 1963 — Three years, generally, on the civil claim
If this is not your matter
High Court appeals
A lower court has decided against me
Online fraud
Money has gone from my account
Arrest & bail
Someone has been arrested, or an FIR is filed
Divorce & family
My marriage has broken down
Property
There is a dispute over land or property
Tell me what has happened
A few lines is enough. If it is urgent — an arrest, a frozen account, a notice with a date on it — call rather than write.