S & A Associates - Advocates and Legal Consultants

27/04/2026

20/04/2026

Supreme Court Confirms You Can File Multiple Complaints under S. 138 NI Act for the Same Transaction: Where the appellant entered into an Agreement to Sell with the respondent developer - The respondent failed to execute and register the sale deeds in the agreed timeframe - The Respondent issued multiple cheques towards refund of the amount along with compensation - some drawn on the firm’s account and some personally by the proprietor - All the cheques were dishonoured upon presentation - The appellant filed multiple complaints under S. 138 NI Act

SC Held: It is well settled that under Section 138 of the NI Act, a separate cause of action arises upon each dishonour of a cheque provided the statutory sequence of presentation, dishonour, notice, and failure to pay is complete. The fact that multiple cheques arise from one transaction will not merge them into a single cause of action.
The Court clarified that mere multiplicity of complaints under S.138 NI Act does not constitute abuse of process when statutory requirements are fulfilled.

Sumit Bansal v. MGI Developers & Promoters, 2026 SCC OnLine SC 49

Cheques Bounced? Supreme Court Confirms You Can File Multiple Complaints under S. 138 NI Act for the Same Transaction