Section 66 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,1881.

A promissory note or bill of exchange, made payable at a specified period after date or sight thereof, must be presented for payment at maturity.

The section will apply to all instruments not payable on demand. Where the bill is not payable on demand presentment must be made on the day it falls due. Presentment before the due date is no presentment. A bill of exchange payable at a specified period after date must be presented for payment at maturity and the want of presentment on that date or even a day’s delay exempts the endorser and other parties than the acceptor. The period is to be calculated according to sections 22 to 25 of the Act. A note not payable on demand is to be presented on the day it falls due and if there are days of grace, on the last day of grace, default in such presentment exempts the indorser from liability though the maker as the principal debtor remains liable.

Presentment is necessary in the case of an indorser of a hundi even where the drawer and the drawee are the same. The condition precedent to the application of this section is that the instrument must be payable at a specified period after date or sight. Where, therefore, a hundi drawn on a certain day is made payable on the same day and not at a specified period after date or sight thereof, it is not governed by this section and it must be presented to the drawee within a reasonable time.