Legal Question in Banking Law in

your remedy are two fold. One criminal case for punishment - you send a legal notice within 30 days of receiving info about dishonour and wait 15days for payment and then file the criminal complaint. Second, file a civil suit for recovery as a summary suit. Duration would depend upon how loaded is the court.

If you go in for prosecution under Sec.138 of the N.I.Act after following the pre requisites under that section, it will take years as criminal courts have heavy pendency of such cases. If you succeed, it will end in the court sentencing the drawer with a fine which can be anything from the amount of the cheque or twice the same, which is in the discretion of cout. If you file a summary suit for recovery, it will depend upon how fast the particular court is disposing off such cases. It depends upon the pendency of such cases in that court. No guess of a definite time frame is possible.