Accrual of cause of action in case of dishonour of cheque
Under the provisions of Clause (c) of Section 138 of the Act, the cause of action for such-like complaint arises on the failure of the drawer "to make payment of the said amount of money to the payee or, as the case may be, to the holder in due course of the cheque, within 15 days of the receipt of the said notice" given under Clause (b) thereof, and not before that. No such complaint can, therefore, legally be filed before the aforesaid period. That being so, the material and relevant date for accrual of cause of action for such-like complaint is the date of receipt of notice by the drawer. The complainant being the sender of the notice cannot clearly receive the same. The recipient of the notice under Clause (b) of Section 138 of the Act must invariably be the drawer of the cheque, to whom it is given. Knowledge of the sender about the date of receipt of the notice by the drawer is, therefore, very much material as regards accrual of the cause of action for making such-like complaint. The sender of the notice could clearly have no personal knowledge about the date of receipt of the same, unless the notice is sent by messenger and the receipt thereof is duly acknowledged by the person to whom it is sent. But in cases (as in the instant case), where notice is sent by registered post acknowledgment due, which is the usual mode of service, which could, in particular, hardly be avoided if the parties do not belong to the same place or near about places, the knowledge of the sender (complainant) about the date of receipt of such notice would invariably be dependent upon other agencies, namely, the postal department, which is obliged to return back the acknowledgment due card to the sender of theregistered notice. But the promptitude and efficiency of the postal department is a matter which is an everyday experience for the people at large. More often than not, acknowledgment due card is hardly returned back to the sender (of the registered notice) in time. Not infrequently, the acknowledgment due card never reaches back the sender, necessitating correspondence with the postal department as to the delivery/service of the registered notice or the date of delivery/ service of such notice. Not unoften, the somnolence of the postal authority could hardly be shaken within reasonable time in answering such query when the acknowledgment due card does not reach back the sender. In such cases, such-like complaint is likely to fail for no fault of the complainant, but for the failure/laches on the part of the postal department. The purpose of the Act is, therefore, likely to be frustrated, in such circumstances, which could never possibly have been intended by the makers thereof. The question which thus naturally arises for consideration is whether the literal and mechanical way of construing Clause (c) of Section 138 of the relevant Act would be justified in law, in such circumstances. The knowledge of the sender of the notice about the date of receipt of the same being an essential requirement of fair-play and natural justice, the expression "within 15 days of the receipt of the said notice", used in the aforesaid provision, should clearly mean the date when the sender acquires the knowledge about the date
