धारा 43

According to Section 43 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, only the drawee can accept a bill of exchange. The section states that 'the acceptor of a bill of exchange is the drawee thereof, if he signifies his acceptance, either by delivering the bill, after it has been presented to him for acceptance, to the person presenting it, or to some person on his behalf, with the intention that it should be returned to the person presenting it, or to some person on his behalf, or by notifying his acceptance, either to the person presenting the bill for acceptance, or to some person on his behalf, or by any other act or intention which implies that he undertakes to pay the bill according to its tenor'. The Supreme Court has held in 'State Bank of India vs. M/s. M.M. Industries' (1995) that the acceptance must be by the drawee himself and not by any other person on his behalf.