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Monday – Friday: 9:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Practice Area
Section 138 complaints and defence, driven to recovery rather than a decree.
Overview
We act for payees prosecuting dishonoured cheques under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, and for drawers defending those complaints — alongside the parallel summary suit under Order XXXVII that is often the faster route to the money itself.
Cheque bounce matters are won or lost on dates. The demand notice must issue within thirty days of the bank memo, the drawer gets fifteen days to pay, and the complaint must be filed within the month that follows. We calendar those windows the day you instruct us, because a notice sent a day late converts a strong case into no case at all.
Services Offered
Statutory demand notices under Section 138 within the limitation window
Filing and conduct of Section 138 complaints before the Magistrate
Defence of drawers, including challenges to notice, service and legally enforceable debt
Summary suits under Order XXXVII for recovery of the cheque amount with interest
Interim compensation and appeal applications under Section 143A and 148
Compounding, settlement and execution of the compensation order
Our Process
Four stages, each with a defined output — so you always know what has happened and what comes next.
We read the return memo, the underlying transaction and the dates. Before anything else, you are told exactly how many days remain on each statutory window.
We draft and dispatch the notice by registered post and email with proof of service, framed so the debt and the demand are unambiguous on the face of it.
If payment does not follow, we file the complaint with the bank records and notice trail annexed — or, for a drawer, we test whether the debt was legally enforceable and whether the notice was validly served.
Most of these matters settle once summons issue, and we negotiate on that footing. Where they do not, we conduct the trial and then execute the compensation order until it is actually paid.
Benefits
These are commitments, not aspirations. If we fail one of them on your matter, tell the partner handling it.
Statutory deadlines diarised at intake so the remedy is never lost
Parallel summary suit advised where recovery, not conviction, is the object
Interim compensation pursued under Section 143A while the trial runs
Execution followed through — an order on paper is not payment
Get In Touch
Tell us about your matter and we will respond within one working day. Every enquiry is confidential from the moment it reaches us.
Messages answered during office hours.