The provision that “no court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of…

Clause (c) of section 142(1) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 provides that no court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class shall try an offence punishable under section 138. Clause (a) requires a written complaint by the payee or holder in due course, clause (b) fixes the time for the complaint, and section 143 deals with summary trial.

Current law: The 2015 amendment numbered the existing clauses of section 142 as sub-section (1) and added the territorial-jurisdiction rules in section 142(2); the minimum trial-court rule in section 142(1)(c) remains distinct from them.