K G KAILASANATHAN Vs. SAJISH BABU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE complainant is in appeal. His complaint filed under section 138 r/w 142 of Negotiable Instruments Act ended in acquittal under section 255 (1) of Cr. P. C. The case of the prosecution is that the accused owed an amount of Rs. 60,000.00 and to discharge that debt Ext. P2 cheque dated 18.03.2004 was issued. When presented for encashment, it was dishonoured on the ground of insufficiency of funds. On receipt of the dishonour memo, statutory notice was sent by registered post on 12.4.2004. The registered postal cover was returned 'unclaimed'. That returned postal cover, Ext. P5, was delivered to the complainant only on 27.04.2004. The complaint was filed on 03.06.2004. The court below found that the period should be reckoned from 15.04.2004 itself which was the date on which the notice was stated to have been refused or unclaimed by the addressee. Accepting that contention, the learned Magistrate acquitted the accused under section 255 (1) of Cr. P. C.

(2.) THE short, but important question that arises in this case is whether the period prescribed for filing complaint under section 142 of Negotiable Instruments Act should commence from 15.4.2004 - the date on which the notice was refused or left unclaimed; or whether it should commence from 27.4.2004 - the date on which the refusal was notified by delivering the returned postal cover.

(3.) THAT contention, according to the complainant, is fallacious since the complainant can come to know as to the date on which the notice was unclaimed by the accused/addressee only when the returned postal cover is delivered to the sender of the notice. Most often the endorsement made by the postman may not be so legible so as to enable the sender to decipher therefrom the exact date on which the notice was refused by the addressee. There may also be instances when such postal articles are misplaced or otherwise retained or kept inadvertently in the post office itself and reach the hands of the sender of the notice only after 2 or 3 weeks.