8.2 million cheque bounce cases are pending in Indian courts. A high-level meeting was held between the Supreme Court’s mediation and conciliation project committee (MCPC) and government officials on Tuesday to explore ways of resolving this issue.
Around 8.2 million cheque bounce cases are pending in Indian courts. Because of such a large number of cases, courts are very busy and do not get enough time to handle other civil and criminal matters. This heavy workload is slowing down the overall judicial process and causing delays in other important cases.
Rules for Cheque Bounce Cases in India
In India, cheque bounce cases are governed mainly by the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, especially under Section 138. A cheque is said to be bounced when it is returned unpaid by the bank due to reasons like insufficient funds, account closure, or signature mismatch. When this happens, the payee must first present the cheque within its validity period (usually 3 months).
If the cheque is dishonoured, the bank issues a return memo. After this, the payee must send a legal notice to the drawer within 30 days of receiving the return memo, demanding payment of the cheque amount. The drawer is then given 15 days from the receipt of the notice to make the payment.
If the payment is not made within this period, the payee can file a criminal complaint in court within the next 30 days. If found guilty, the drawer may face punishment of up to two years of imprisonment, or a fine up to twice the cheque amount, or both. These rules are meant to ensure trust in banking transactions and to discourage misuse of cheques in financial dealings.
