Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
Section 138—Dishonour of cheque—Dismissal of complaint—Bar of limitation—Appeal—Submission that complaint was prepared day before its presentation but was not filed before the court by the counsel and complainant should not be penalized for the fault of the counsel—Rejected—It was permissible for complainant to present the complaint himself before the court as per Section 200 of CrPC (Sec. 223 of BNSS, 2023) and he did not require the assistance of counsel for presenting the complaint—Appellant cannot shift entire blame on counsel—Failure of complainant to file an application for condonation of delay—It is not permissible for court to condone the delay when no such prayer was made before the trial court—There cannot be any implied condonation of delay—No sufficient reason has been shown for not filing the complaint within limitation—Appeal dismissed.
[Para 18 & 19]