Cheque Dishonour Legal Notice in Bangladesh: How to Draft, Serve and Prove It in 2026

Cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh: timing, contents and service in 2026

A cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh courts will act on is short, dated and properly served. It is also the document on which most cheque prosecutions are won or lost. Under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, a dishonoured cheque becomes a criminal offence only if the payee demands payment in writing within thirty days of learning of the dishonour, the drawer fails to pay within thirty days of receiving that demand, and the complaint follows within one month. Miss one link in that chain, or fail to prove it, and the case collapses regardless of how clear the debt is.

This guide is about the notice itself: when to send it, what to put in it, how to serve it, and how to build a file that proves service at trial. It sets out a sample structure, the defects that the High Court Division has treated as fatal, and the two developments of 2026 that change the landscape: the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2026, which moves cheques above Tk 5 lakh to the Joint Sessions Judge, and the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026, which lists cheque complaints up to Tk 3 lakh for mandatory pre-case mediation. For the offence, penalties and trial process as a whole, read our companion guide to cheque dishonour in Bangladesh.

Summary: The payee or holder in due course must serve a written demand for the cheque amount within thirty days of receiving the bank's information that the cheque was returned unpaid. Service must be by one of the three modes in section 138(1A): delivery to the drawer, registered post with acknowledgement due, or publication in a widely circulated Bangla national daily. The drawer then has thirty days from receipt to pay, and the complaint must be filed within one month after that window closes, before a Magistrate or, for cheques above Tk 5 lakh, a Joint Sessions Judge.

Key point: Sending a notice is not enough; it must be served and the service must be proved. In 2025 the High Court Division set aside two section 138 convictions because no acknowledgement due card was proved and the complaint did not plead the statutory mode of service. Email, SMS and WhatsApp are not among the modes in section 138(1A) and should only ever supplement one of them.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

Why the cheque dishonour legal notice in Bangladesh decides the case

Section 138 does not make every bounced cheque a crime. The offence is complete only when three conditions in the proviso to section 138(1) are met: the cheque was presented within six months of its date or within its period of validity, whichever is earlier; the payee or holder in due course made a written demand for payment within thirty days of receiving information from the bank of its return; and the drawer failed to pay within thirty days of receiving that notice.[1] Two of those three conditions turn entirely on the demand notice.

The High Court Division has put the point bluntly. Presenting a cheque in time and writing a demand does not, by itself, constitute the offence; the notice must be served on the drawer, the drawer must fail to pay within thirty days of receipt, and the complaint must be filed within one month of the cause of action. Clauses (a) to (c) of the proviso, section 138(1A) and section 141(b) are cumulative.[7] A complainant who cannot prove each of them loses, even against a drawer who never disputes the debt.

How this guide differs from our other cheque resources

Our statutory orientation on cheque dishonour reproduces the legal frame, and our general guide to legal notices in Bangladesh covers notices across all areas of practice. This article goes deeper on one document: the drafting choices, the service record and the procedural traps around the demand notice, together with the 2026 mediation requirement that now sits between the notice and the courtroom for smaller cheques.

The 30-day notice timing: when the clock starts and stops

The thirty days for the demand notice do not run from the date on the cheque, the date of deposit or the date the bank processed the return. They run from the date the payee or holder in due course receives information from the bank regarding the return of the cheque as unpaid.[1] In practice that is usually the date the collecting bank hands over or sends the return memo, often called the dishonour slip.

The dishonour slip is the trigger

In Md Arif-Uz-Zaman v The State, the Appellate Division treated the complainant's receipt of the dishonour slip from his own bank as definite information of the return and held that he "was not at all required to wait for any information from the drawee bank". A later letter from the drawee bank citing a signature mismatch did not absolve the drawer.[11] The lesson is practical: record the date and manner in which the return memo reached you, keep the envelope or email, and calculate the thirty days from that date.

Counting the thirty days safely

Treat the thirty days as a hard ceiling. A notice dispatched on day twenty-nine leaves no margin if the dispatch date is later disputed. Our standard is to issue the cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh clients need within a week of receiving the return memo, by at least two modes, so that a defect in one does not leave the file without valid service.

Re-presentation and second notices

A cheque may be presented more than once within its validity period. But a payee who has served a valid notice and let the payment window close should not assume that re-presenting and serving a second demand restarts the sequence. Where the first sequence was properly run, the safer course is to file on it.

When the date of receipt is disputed

The date the drawer received the notice drives both the payment window and the limitation period for the complaint. The Appellate Division in Nizamuddin Mahmood v Abdul Hamid Bhuiyan, 60 DLR (AD) 195, treated the date of receipt as a question of fact to be ascertained at trial, a proposition the High Court Division applied again in 2025.[7] That protects a complainant from summary dismissal, but it also means the complainant must prove receipt with evidence, not assertion.

What a cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh law accepts must contain

The Act prescribes no form. The only express requirement is a notice in writing "making a demand for the payment" of the cheque amount.[1] The High Court Division has described the purpose of the notice as informing the drawer of the demand for the dishonoured cheque money so that he has the chance to pay.[10] Everything in the document should serve that purpose and make the later complaint easy to prove.

Essential particulars

• The full name and address of the payee or holder in due course, and of any lawyer issuing the notice on the payee's instructions.
• The full name of the drawer, the drawer's usual or last known place of abode or business in Bangladesh, and, for a company, its registered office and the names of the persons in charge.
• The cheque number, date, amount in figures and words, drawee bank and branch, and account number if shown.
• The date of presentation, the date of return, the reason stated in the return memo, and the date the payee received the information.
• A clear demand for payment of the cheque amount within thirty days of receipt of the notice.
• A statement that, if payment is not made, the payee will file a complaint under sections 138 and 141 and pursue civil remedies.

Demand the cheque amount, not more

The statutory demand is for "the said amount of money", meaning the amount of the cheque. Claims for interest, damages, legal fees or other sums owed under the underlying transaction belong in a separate paragraph, expressly reserved, or in a separate letter. Mixing them into a single global demand invites the argument that the drawer was never told what payment would satisfy the statute. The drawer's payment of the cheque amount within the window ends the criminal route; the payee's civil rights for any unrealised balance survive under section 138(3).[1]

Language, signature and authority

A notice published under clause (c) must appear in a daily Bangla national newspaper, so the published text should be in Bangla.[1] The notice should be signed by the payee or by a lawyer expressly instructed by the payee. Where a company is the payee, keep the board resolution or authority under which the notice and the later complaint are issued, because the complainant's capacity is often challenged at trial.

Sample cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh structure

The skeleton below reflects the structure we use. It is a drafting framework, not a form to be copied without adapting it to the facts. Every factual statement in it must be one the complainant can later prove from a document.

1. Heading and mode of dispatch. "Legal notice under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881", followed by "By registered post with acknowledgement due" and, if used, "Also by hand" or "Also by email for information".
2. Reference and date. The lawyer's file reference and the date of issue.
3. Addressee. The drawer's name, with father's or husband's name for an individual, and the full postal address; for a company, the company at its registered office and, separately, each director or officer the payee intends to proceed against.
4. Instructions. A sentence confirming that the notice is issued on the instructions of the named payee.
5. The transaction. Two or three sentences describing why the cheque was issued, without overstatement.
6. The cheque. Number, date, amount in figures and words, drawee bank and branch.
7. Presentation and return. The date of presentation, the date and reason of return, and the date the payee received the bank's information.
8. The demand. A demand that the drawer pay the cheque amount to the payee within thirty days of receipt of the notice, with the method of payment stated.
9. Consequence. Notice that failure to pay will lead to a complaint under sections 138, 140 and 141, as applicable, and to civil proceedings.
10. Reservation. An express reservation of all other claims and remedies.
11. Signature. The lawyer's signature, name, enrolment details and address, with a copy to the client.

Keep the notice to one or two pages. A clean, factual cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh courts can read in a minute is easier to prove and harder to attack than an argumentative one.

Service modes under section 138(1A) and the email question

Section 138(1A), inserted by the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2006, provides that the notice is to be served by delivering it to the person, by sending it by registered post with acknowledgement due to the person at his usual or last known place of abode or business in Bangladesh, or by publication in a daily Bangla national newspaper having wide circulation.[1] The 2026 amendment did not touch this subsection; the only change it made was to the forum provision in section 141(c).[2]

One mode is enough, but one mode is required

In January 2026 the High Court Division held in Md Delwar Hossain (Titu) v The State that the three modes are disjunctive: the legislature used "or", and the payee's duty is discharged once notice is served under any one clause.[9] Two 2025 judgments state the other side of the same rule: service by at least one of the statutory modes is "sine qua non".[7] [8] The payee can choose the mode, but cannot invent one.

Personal delivery

Hand delivery is fast but only as good as its proof. Use a delivery person who can give evidence, obtain a dated receipt signed by the recipient, and, if the drawer refuses to accept, note the refusal and serve by registered post the same day.

Registered post with acknowledgement due

Registered post with acknowledgement due remains the workhorse of section 138 service. A properly addressed registered letter attracts a presumption of service under section 27 of the General Clauses Act, but the High Court Division has stressed that the presumption does not fix the date on which the drawer received the notice. In Reba Begum v The State, decided on 12 August 2025, no acknowledgement due card was proved, so the cause of action under clause (c) "could not be asserted" and the conviction was set aside.[7]

Newspaper publication

Publication is the fallback where the drawer cannot be found or evades service. The Act does not define which newspapers have "wide circulation". In MD Shahabur Rahman v The State, 11 SCOB (2019) HCD 55, the High Court Division declined to treat an ungazetted circulation list as conclusive and held that the trial court is the proper authority to decide whether the newspaper qualifies.[10] Choose a well-known national Bangla daily and keep the full printed page, not a cutting or a screenshot.

Email, SMS and WhatsApp

No 2026 amendment added electronic service to section 138(1A). Email, SMS and messaging apps are therefore not statutory modes, and a cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh payees send only by email risks failing the "sine qua non" test. Electronic copies are still valuable: they show that the drawer knew of the demand, rebut a later denial of receipt and fix a date. Send them alongside registered post, never instead of it. Courts have accepted electronic evidence for other purposes, but that is a question of proof, not of statutory service.

Service proof: building a file that survives trial

Most failed cheque cases do not fail because the cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh payees prepared was never sent. They fail because the complainant cannot prove, in the witness box, how and when it was served. The 2025 judgments show the pattern: in Md Safikul Islam v The State the notice and postal receipt were produced, but the witness did not state that the notice went by registered post with acknowledgement due, the dates did not match and "no AD" was proved; the court set aside a conviction carrying a Tk 30 lakh fine.[8]

The service proof checklist

• The signed office copy of the notice, identical in date and text to the copy dispatched.
• The registered post receipt, with the post office's stamp and the word "AD" or acknowledgement due marked on it.
• The returned acknowledgement due card, with the date of receipt; if it does not return, a written tracking request to the post office.
• Any envelope returned "refused" or "not found", unopened, with the postal endorsement intact.
• A signed receipt or delivery statement for personal delivery, and the name of the person who delivered it.
• For publication, the full newspaper page and a publisher's certificate or bill showing the date.
• Email delivery records and any reply from the drawer, preserved in native form.

When the acknowledgement card does not come back

The absence of the card is not automatically fatal. In Delwar Hossain the card was not exhibited, but the postal receipt bore the post office's "AD" endorsement, the complainant gave evidence of the date of receipt and the accused had surrendered and contested the case; the court presumed due service under clause (b).[9] That is a rescue, not a strategy. A second mode of service, made in time, is the better protection.

Plead the mode in the complaint

The complaint petition must say how the notice was served. In Reba Begum the complaint was silent on compliance with section 138(1A), and the High Court Division treated that silence as a defect that contributed to setting aside the conviction.[7] State the mode, the date of dispatch, the date of receipt and the exhibits that prove each.

The 30-day payment window and the cause of action

Once the notice is received, the drawer has thirty days to pay the cheque amount.[1] The cause of action arises under clause (c) only when that payment window expires without payment. Until then there is no offence to complain of.

Do not file early

A complaint filed before the payment window closes is premature. The High Court Division has, in some cases, declined to quash proceedings on that ground alone, relying on earlier authority including Sattya Narayan Poddar, 53 DLR 403, and Sarwar Hossain Moni, 16 BLC (AD) 71.[10] No complainant should rely on that indulgence. Wait until the thirty days from the provable date of receipt have fully run, then file.

Part payment and negotiation during the window

Drawers often respond with a part payment or an offer of instalments. Accept money during the payment window if it is offered, but record in writing whether the balance remains demanded under the original notice; an undocumented standstill can later be presented as a waiver. Keep the original cheque until payment is complete.

The drawer's perspective

A drawer who receives a cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh law treats as valid should act within the thirty days. Paying the cheque amount within the window prevents the cause of action arising. Where the cheque is disputed, for example because it was given as security or was never completed by the drawer, a short written reply setting out the position preserves the defence. After conviction, an appeal lies only on deposit of at least fifty per cent of the cheque amount under section 138A, which makes early engagement far cheaper than a later fight.[1]

Filing the complaint within one month under section 141

Section 141 provides that no court may take cognizance of a section 138 offence except on a complaint in writing by the payee or holder in due course, made within one month of the date on which the cause of action arises under clause (c) of the proviso.[1] The notice and the complaint must therefore be planned together: the date of receipt of the notice fixes the end of the payment window, and that date fixes the last day for filing under section 141.

The 2026 forum change for cheques above Tk 5 lakh

The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2026, Act No 65 of 2026 dated 10 April 2026, substituted section 141(c) with immediate effect. No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge or Joint Sessions Judge may try a section 138 offence where the face value of the cheque exceeds Tk 5 lakh; every other section 138 offence is triable by a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class. The Act repealed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance 2026, Ordinance No 34 of 2026, and saved anything done under it.[2] A cheque of exactly Tk 5 lakh does not "exceed" the threshold on the plain words of the section.

What the forum change means for the notice

The amendment does not alter the notice, but it raises the stakes for larger cheques. For high-value cheques we recommend dual-mode service as a matter of course, and a complaint that lists every service document. Our main guide to cheque dishonour in Bangladesh explains the complaint, examination of the complainant and trial in more detail.

The table below maps the timeline from return to complaint. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

Mandatory mediation for cheques up to Tk 3 lakh under the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026

The Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026, Act No 45 of 2026 dated 10 April 2026, inserted a pre-case mediation regime into the Legal Aid Services Act 2000.[3] Under new section 21B, for any dispute or complaint listed in the new schedule, the aggrieved party must first apply to the legal aid office for settlement through mediation, and may go to the competent court only if mediation fails.[4]

Cheque complaints are on the schedule

Item 7 of the schedule lists complaints relating to cheque dishonour under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, in the case of cheques with a value not exceeding three lakh taka.[5] For a cheque of Tk 3 lakh or less, therefore, the route after an unpaid cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh payees serve may run first to the district legal aid office rather than straight to the Magistrate.

Where and when it applies

Section 21B, section 21C and the schedule do not take effect everywhere at once. They come into force on the date and in the areas the government fixes by gazette notification.[3] On 21 July 2026 the Law Minister, Md Asaduzzaman, launched mandatory pre-case mediation in ten more districts, including Bogura, Jashore, Cox's Bazar and Tangail, after a pilot in twenty districts. Reports of that rollout described cases under seven laws, naming family, partition, pre-emption, dowry and parents' maintenance matters, and did not mention cheque complaints.[6] Before filing a small-cheque complaint, check the current notification for the district concerned.

Limitation, the report and the settlement

Three features of the regime matter for cheque cases. First, section 21B(4) excludes time spent in pre-case mediation from the limitation period. Second, a party who files after failed mediation must place a report before the court in the manner rules prescribe. Third, under section 21C, a mediation agreement signed by the parties and the mediator and certified by the chief legal aid officer is final, binding and enforceable as a decree or final order.[4] Whether the exclusion extends to the one-month period in section 141, which is a bar on cognizance rather than an ordinary limitation period, has not yet been tested; until it is, apply to the legal aid office promptly and keep the one-month date in view.

Mediation in the Supreme Court

The settlement route also reaches the top of the system. By a circular dated 11 August 2026, approved by the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court Legal Aid Office was empowered to settle cases through alternative dispute resolution under a list of laws that includes section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.[13] For a broader view of how mediation now works in Bangladesh, see our guides to mediation in Bangladesh and legal aid in Bangladesh.

Common defects that kill cheque cases

The same handful of errors appears again and again in the judgments that set aside convictions. Almost all of them are avoidable if the cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh law requires is handled properly at the outset.

Timing defects

A notice sent more than thirty days after the payee received information of the return fails clause (b). A complaint filed before the drawer's thirty days have run is premature, and one filed more than one month after they expire is barred by section 141. A cheque presented outside its six-month or validity period never triggers the offence at all: in Safikul Islam the court found that the cheque had not been validly presented, so the cause of action could not be ascertained.[1] [8]

Service defects

A notice sent by ordinary post, courier or email only, or to an address that is neither the drawer's usual nor last known place of abode or business, may not be service under section 138(1A). The most common failure, however, is evidential: no acknowledgement due card, no witness who can describe dispatch, or dates on the notice and postal receipt that do not match.[7] [8]

Content and pleading defects

A notice that fails to identify the cheque, or that demands a different or larger sum without separating the cheque amount, gives the defence an argument that no valid statutory demand was made. A complaint that does not plead the mode and date of service, or that does not annex the notice and service proof, invites dismissal.[7]

Wrong parties

Where the drawer is a company, the notice should go to the company and to each person in charge of and responsible for its business whom the payee intends to prosecute. Section 140 deems those persons guilty unless they prove that the offence was committed without their knowledge or that they exercised due diligence.[1] In Phoenix Finance and Investment v Yeasmin Ahmed (2 June 2021), the Appellate Division held that whether a director was in charge of the business is a question of fact for trial, not for quashing under section 561A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.[12] Naming the right people in the notice keeps that question open for trial.

The list is short; the cost of each defect is not. In practice, once the statutory sequence has lapsed, a failed complaint is rarely capable of being revived, and the payee is left with a civil suit for the money.

How TRW runs a cheque dishonour notice

A disciplined process turns the statutory sequence into a checklist. The steps below are the ones we follow for payees, from the day the return memo arrives to the day the complaint is filed.

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For drawers, the process runs in mirror image: verify the dates, preserve the record, decide within the payment window whether to pay, negotiate or dispute, and, where proceedings have already begun and the notice was defective, consider whether a challenge is available. Our section 561A quashment practice advises on those challenges.

Settlement after notice and after conviction

The criminal route is a lever, not an end in itself. On 6 September 2026, in Md Abdul Hannan Master v The State, the High Court Division held that the main purpose of a cheque dishonour case is recovery of the money rather than punishment, and set aside a one-year sentence where the cheque amount and bank dues had been paid and the parties had settled.[14] In January 2026 another bench upheld a conviction but directed payment of the Tk 12 lakh cheque amount in place of imprisonment.[9]

Both decisions point to the same practical conclusion. A well-served notice gives the payee leverage to settle, the drawer a final chance to pay, and the court a clean record if neither happens. Section 138(2) also allows the court to pay the complainant out of any fine realised, up to the face value of the cheque, and section 138(3) preserves a civil suit for any unrealised amount.[1]

What to watch on cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh practice in 2026

Three questions will shape practice over the coming year. First, whether and where the government notifies cheque complaints up to Tk 3 lakh for mandatory pre-case mediation, and how legal aid offices handle the interaction with section 141.[5] [6] Second, how Joint Sessions Judges approach service proof in the larger cases now before them under the amended section 141(c).[2] Third, whether Parliament revisits section 138(1A) to recognise electronic service, which it has not done so far.

Until then, the rules are clear enough to follow precisely: send within thirty days, serve by a statutory mode and preferably two, prove the date of receipt, wait out the payment window and file within a month. If you hold a dishonoured cheque or have received a notice, contact TRW to have the dates and the service record checked before the clock runs out.

Frequently asked questions

What is the deadline for a cheque dishonour legal notice Bangladesh law requires?

Thirty days from the date you receive information from the bank that the cheque was returned unpaid, under clause (b) of the proviso to section 138(1).[1]

Can I send the legal notice by email or WhatsApp?

Only as a supplement. Section 138(1A) lists personal delivery, registered post with acknowledgement due and publication in a Bangla national daily, and the High Court Division treats service by at least one of those modes as essential.[1] [7]

Do I need to use more than one mode of service?

No. The modes are disjunctive and one valid mode discharges the payee's duty.[9] Using two is still prudent, because proof of one may fail at trial.

What if the acknowledgement due card never comes back?

Keep the postal receipt marked "AD" and request tracking from the post office. Courts have presumed service where other evidence supported it, but convictions have also been set aside where no AD was proved.[7] [9]

When does the drawer's 30-day payment window start?

From the drawer's receipt of the notice, not from the date it was written or posted.[1]

How long after the payment window do I have to file the complaint?

One month from the date the cause of action arises under clause (c), which is when the thirty-day payment window expires without payment.[1]

Which court hears a cheque case above Tk 5 lakh?

Since the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2026, a court not inferior to a Metropolitan Joint Sessions Judge or Joint Sessions Judge. Other section 138 cases go to a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class.[2]

Is mediation mandatory for small cheque cases?

The Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026 schedules cheque complaints up to Tk 3 lakh for pre-case mediation, but the requirement applies only in areas the government notifies. Check the district notification before filing.[3] [5]

Should the notice claim interest and legal costs?

The statutory demand is for the cheque amount. Reserve other claims separately so the drawer knows exactly what payment satisfies the notice; civil remedies for any unrealised amount are preserved by section 138(3).[1]

Who should receive the notice when a company issued the cheque?

The company at its registered office and each director or officer in charge of its business whom you intend to prosecute, because section 140 extends liability to those persons.[1] [12]