Priya, a small business owner, receives a bill of exchange from her customer, Sanjay, which is due for payment on October 15th. On October 12th, Priya presents the bill of exchange for payment at Sanjay's office during regular business hours, but Sanjay is not present. Priya leaves the bill with Sanjay's assistant, requesting to be presented to Sanjay for payment when he returns. However, Sanjay's assistant forgot to give the bill, and Sanjay does not make the payment by the due date, and the bill is dishonoured. Based on the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, examine whether Priya's presentation of the bill of exchange to Sanjay's assistant is valid under law.

Presentment for payment [Section 64 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881] \nAs per section 64 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, promissory notes, bill of exchange and cheques must be presented for payment to the maker, acceptor or drawee thereof respectively, by or on behalf of the holder as hereinafter provided.\nIn default of such presentment, the other parties thereto are not liable thereon to such holder. So, presentment for payment must be made to the person primarily liable on the instrument, or in their absence, at the proper place during the usual business hours. \nIn this case, Priya presented the bill at Sanjay’s office during regular business hours, but since Sanjay was not present, she left the bill with his assistant. \nWhile leaving the bill with the assistant might be considered a practical step, it does not fulfil the strict legal requirement of presenting the bill directly to the drawee (Sanjay) or his authorised representative for payment. \nTherefore, the presentation of the bill by Priya to Sanjay’s assistant is not valid under law.