HC issues rule over newspaper notices in cheque cases

The High Court has issued a rule asking why a provision allowing legal notices for cheque dishonour cases to be served through newspaper advertisements under the Negotiable Instruments Act should not be declared illegal.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Shikder Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar issued the rule on Sunday (November 1), following the preliminary hearing of a writ petition.

The respondents, including the Law Secretary and the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka, have been asked to respond to the rule within two weeks.

Lawyer Muhammad Fakhru Uddin appeared for the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Nur Mohammad Azmi represented the state.

Fakhru Uddin said the Negotiable Instruments Act was amended in 2006, allowing notices under Section 138(1A)(c) to be served in three ways: by hand, through registered post or by publishing them in a widely circulated Bangla newspaper.

He said his client had been sentenced in a Tk2.5 crore cheque dishonour case but claimed to have been unaware of the proceedings. The client reportedly lost a cheque in 2022, which was later allegedly used by a group to file the case against him.