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Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

Section 17, NI Act: Ambiguous instruments

Pundora · Published 3 October 2026

Section 17 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, in the Act's own words.

The section

17. Ambiguous instruments.

Where an instrument may be construed either as a promissory note or bill of exchange, the holder may at his election treat it as either, and the instrument shall be thenceforward treated accordingly.

The text is India Code's consolidated text as loaded into Pundora's statute corpus on 1 September 2026. A section quoted in a draft checked by Pundora is checked against this text.

Sources

  1. India Code: Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, section 17 (read 1 September 2026)

The Act's own words, from India Code. If the text here differs from the Gazette, the Gazette governs; write to contact@pundora.in and it will be corrected and dated.