Non payment of Full & Final settlement.

Hi Legal Team, Greetings to all of you.. I was employed with X consultant company since Sep 18-2016 until I decided to quit for various reasons including citing health reasons on [deleted]. During this period my relationship with the company CEO & Founder was very warm as we live in the same vicinity and generally meet face to face sometimes. On the day of my resignation being accepted ( [deleted]) I was told that the Accounts department would get in touch with me for my Full & Final payment once I complete the stipulated 45 day notice period though I was relieved on the spot. I accepted it and in good faith waited out another 30 odd days as they cited delay in payments from clients etc. Post that on May 3rd, 2017 I collected my Full & Final payment through cheque that was again post dated [deleted]. As the date was approaching I got a call from my ex company accountant asking me not to present the cheque on [deleted] as their payments are still held up and could take 10 to 15 days more. I apologized and told them that keeping in mind my obligations I could not hold out any longer and with no other option open to me as I had already committed myself to people I had borrowed money hoping to encash this cheque and return the same to them on [deleted] etc. I even wrote a mail on the [deleted] to the CEO of my ex company and requested him to look into this matter and to ensure the cheque does not bounce for not having funds or for putting in a request to stop the payment but did not receive any response. On [deleted] Before presenting the cheque I had approached the bank from which the cheque was given to me to understand if there were funds in the account and if I could deposit the same, I was told Yes by the bank executive and told me to deposit the same from where I hold an account. I deposited the cheque on [deleted] and was told it would take 48hrs to reach my account. On [deleted] I received an alert from my bank that the cheque was not acknowledged as there was a stop payment issued by the Drawer. I went to my bank on [deleted] and signed the register and accepted the returned cheque. Dear Sir's / Madam, How do I take things further with my ex-company? Please advise? Do I take up the matter by engaging a lawyer or should I just forget it/ drop it? Will I get into any trouble with the law? What will be the fees to meet my legal expenses for this type of a case? How many days will it take to clear this matter? Do I need to give them the last chance or directly ask my lawyer to connect with them? Where do I stand in this type of case? Am I at an advantage or disadvantage? Thanking you all in advance for your sincere support and advice? regards, Flloyd