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Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881

Section 61, NI Act: Presentment for acceptance

Pundora · Published 3 October 2026

Section 61 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, in the Act's own words.

The section

61. Presentment for acceptance.

A bill of exchange payable after sight must, if no time or place is specified therein for presentment, be presented to the drawee thereof for acceptance, if he can, after reasonable search, be found, by a person entitled to demand acceptance, within a reasonable time after it is drawn, and in business hours on a business day. In default of such presentment, no party thereto is liable thereon to the person making such default. If the drawee cannot, after reasonable search, be found, the bill is dishonoured. If the bill is directed to the drawee at a particular place, it must be presented at that place; and if at the due date for presentment he cannot, after reasonable search, be found there, the till is dishonoured. 1[Where authorized by agreement or usage, a presentment through the post office by means of a registered letter is sufficient.]

The text is India Code's consolidated text as loaded into Pundora's statute corpus on 1 September 2026; a number before a square bracket is India Code's own footnote marker for an amendment. A section quoted in a draft checked by Pundora is checked against this text.

Sources

  1. India Code: Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, section 61 (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.