--- title: "What is the difference between Complaint under Section 138 of NI Act and Summary Suit under Order 37 of CPC?" description: "What is the difference between Complaint under Section 138 of NI Act and Summary Suit under Order 37 of CPC?" author: "Lily Chitlangiya" published: 2021-11-29 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94206/what-is-the-difference-between-complaint-under-section-138-of-ni-act-and-summary-suit-under-order-37-of-cpc category: "law & legal issues" tags: ["laws", "laws and legal issues"] reading_time: 3 minutes --- # What is the difference between Complaint under Section 138 of NI Act and Summary Suit under Order 37 of CPC? What is the [difference](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/398/difference-between-object-type-and-var-type) between Complaint under [Section](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/84187/why-i-have-really-enjoyed-posting-our-thoughts-on-yourviews-section-of-mindstick) 138 of NI Act and [Summary Suit under Order](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94207/is-leave-to-defend-available-for-defendant-in-case-of-the-summary-suit-under-order-37) 37 of [CPC](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/156344/what-is-ppc-cpc-and-ctr)? ## Answers ### Answer by Sanjay Goenka Section **138** of Negotiable Instrument act/**[summary](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/33860/how-to-calculate-column-summary-in-sql-server) suit** under [Order](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12276/how-timely-order-deliveries-can-improve-customer-experience) **37** of CPC \ **Difference** - The **basic difference** between both the provisions of Law **is that section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act is punishable by the Law** with the physical punishment of 2 years as imprisonment\ - **Whereas** under **order 37 of the CPC “Summary suit” is only available as a remedy to recover the money of debt as soon as possible** and it is not punishable with physical or the other way, which means only the compensation as his original money will be returned. **\** **Section 138 of the Negotiable instrument Act**\ This section of the NI act speaks about the punishment in the case of the **discharge of the cheques.** When any person named as **“drawer”** gives a cheque as **promissory notes** to another person. Who will give it to the bank named as **“payee**”, And due to any reasons either due to the **unavailability of money in the account** or the exceed of **the cheque amount**. The person **“drawer” will be accounted f**or as he **committed the [offence](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/52046/what-is-difference-between-cognizable-and-non-cognizable-offence-in-india).** Which can be punishable if he didn’t pay it **under the 15 days of the returning of the cheque.** And the payee can deposit the cheque in the bank **under the 3 months of the check issued or the validity of the cheque. He can choose whichever is earlier.**\ \ ![What is the difference between Complaint under Section 138 of NI Act and Summary Suit under Order 37 of CPC?](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/2b7e6b34-2e74-4646-a4eb-9d5dc15f75dd/images/9999b2c9-c73f-42c4-8ae1-c6f72d2e38e8.jpeg)\ \ **Punishment for the offence done r the section 138 of the NI act** The person who said to committed the offence will be punished with **imprisonment of up to 2 years or with the fine of double the amount of cheque or with both.** \ **Recovery suit under order 37 of the CPC** As this name **“recovery”** tells us a lot which means **the return of any given items or any promissory notes to pay,** yes. We are exactly right as this is a special remedy given by the Special Court as the civil court and the High Court only for the purpose **recovery of any debt money**, **dishonor cheques**, **liquidated money of damages and the hundies** or any instrument which any person promised to pay in the form of the **written contract**. In these cases, the court **issues the summons to the defendant**, and under the **10 days of receiving the summons**, the defendant should mark his presence in front of the court. And then the plaintiff will ask the defendant for the judgment of the deft and the defendant will; file his affidavit in the response to the plaintiff’s complaint **under 15 days of the order.** **\** ![What is the difference between Complaint under Section 138 of NI Act and Summary Suit under Order 37 of CPC?](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/2b7e6b34-2e74-4646-a4eb-9d5dc15f75dd/images/bb5e98bc-048c-443c-8a9e-13d3650b5c43.jpeg) **\** **\** **punishment** **in this provision of Law, there is no such punishment is available as in the above section 138 of the Negotiation Intrument act's, but only to return the money of payee.** --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94206/what-is-the-difference-between-complaint-under-section-138-of-ni-act-and-summary-suit-under-order-37-of-cpc Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.