Delhi High Court
Development Credit Bank vs Devender Kumar & Company & Anr. on 18 March, 2009
Author: Anil Kumar
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(OS) No.328/2009
% Date of Decision: 18.03.2009
Development Credit Bank .... Plaintiff
Through Mr Amrendra Kumari Gini,
Advocate.
Versus
Devender Kumar & Company & Anr. .... Defendants
Through Nemo
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR
1. Whether reporters of Local papers may be YES
allowed to see the judgment?
2. To be referred to the reporter or not? NO
3. Whether the judgment should be reported in NO
the Digest?
IA No.2298/2009
Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
Application is disposed of.
CS(OS) No.328/2009
Plaint be registered.
This is a suit filed by Plaintiff for recovery of Rs. 39,69,694/-
against the defendants on the ground that a loan of Rs. 31,06,800/-
was sanctioned and disbursed to Defendant No. 1 for purchasing two
construction equipments. The loan was repayable in 35 installments of
Rs. 1,08,072/- per month.
CS(OS) No.328/2009 Page 1 of 4
The Plaintiff has also alleged that to secure the repayment of the
loan account, the construction equipments of Ashok Leyland Taurus
2516 make were hypothecated vide Deed of Hypothecation dated 28th
April, 2007.
The plea of the Plaintiff is that to further secure the repayment of
loan, Defendant No. 2 has stood guarantor in the said transaction and
he had also executed Deed of Guarantee dated 28th April, 2007 at the
Branch Office of the Plaintiff at Delhi.
The Plaintiff, however, contended that it is a scheduled
commercial bank within the meaning of Banking Regulations Act, 1949,
having its Registered Office at 301, Trade Plaza, 414, Veer Savarkar
Marg, Prabha Devi, Mumbai-400025 and its regional Branch Office is at
305, 3rd Floor, New Delhi House, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi-
110001.
The Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions
Act, 1993 came into force on 27th August, 1993 and under Section 2(e)
of the said Act, `banking company' has the meaning assigned to it in
Clause (c) of Section 5 of the Banking Regulations Act, 1949 (10 of
1949).
The Plaintiff has admitted that Plaintiff is a scheduled commercial
bank within the meaning of Banking Regulations Act, 1949.
Consequently, the Plaintiff is a banking company as contemplated
under The Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions
Act, 1993.
CS(OS) No.328/2009 Page 2 of 4
Under Section 17 of the said Act, the Tribunal has the
jurisdiction, powers and authority to entertain and decide application
from the banking and financial institutions for recovery of debts due to
said banking and financial institutions and under Section 18 of the said
Act, no court or other authority has jurisdiction in relation to the
matters specified in Section 17 of the said Act.
The present suit of the Plaintiff, which is a banking company as
contemplated under The Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial
Institutions Act, 1993, is for recovery of a debt due from Defendant No.
1 and Defendant No. 2, therefore, under Section 18 of the said Act,
jurisdiction of the Civil Court is barred in relation to the matter
pertaining to recovery of debts due to a banking company.
Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure contemplates
that a plaint can be rejected where the suit appears from the statement
made in the plaint to be barred by any law.
On the basis of averments made by the plaintiff in the suit, it is
barred under the provisions of The Recovery of Debts due to Banks and
Financial Institutions Act, 1993.
The suit of the plaintiff is, therefore, rejected being barred under
the provisions of The Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial
Institutions Act, 1993.
IA No.2297/2009
Since the suit of the plaintiff is barred under the provisions of The
CS(OS) No.328/2009 Page 3 of 4
Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993,
the application is also not maintainable and it is dismissed as not
maintainable.
MARCH 18, 2009 ANIL KUMAR, J.
sb
