Kerala High Court
Linu Kurian vs State Bank Of India on 3 September, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.B.SURESH KUMAR
FRIDAY, THE 3RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2021 / 12TH BHADRA, 1943
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
PETITIONERS:
1 LINU KURIAN
AGED 21 YEARS, D/O KURIAN CHACKO, AGED 21 YEARS,
CHUMAPPUNKAL HOUSE, KAPPAD P.O., KOTTAYAM DISTRICT
- 686 508
2 KURIAN CHACKO
S/O CHACKO, AGED 58 YEARS, CHUMAPPUNKAL HOUSE,
KAPPAD P.O., KOTTAYAM DISTRICT - 686 508
BY ADVS.
JOHNSON MANAYANI
JEEVAN MATHEW MANAYANI
RESPONDENTS:
1 STATE BANK OF INDIA
VELLATHOTTAM BUILIDNGS, KALAKETTY P.O., KOTTAYAM
DISTRICT - 686508, REPRESENTED BY ITS BRANCH
MANAGER
2 THE BRANCH MANAGER
STATE BANK OF INDIA, VELLATHOTTAM BUILDINGS,
KALAKETTY P.O., KOTTAYAM DISTRICT - 686508
3 THE CHIEF MANAGER
STATE BANK OF INDIA, RASMEC, PALA P.O., KOTTAYAM
DISTRICT- 686 575
4 THE TRANS UNION CYBIL LTD.
(FORMERLY CREDIT INFORMATION BUREAU INDIA LTD), 1,
WORLD CENTRE, TOWER 2A, 19TH FLOOR, SENAPATI BAPAT
MARG, ELPHINSTONE ROAD, MUMBAI-400011, REP BY ITS
GENERAL MANAGER.
BY ADV JAWAHAR JOSE, SC
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
03.09.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
2
P.B.SURESH KUMAR, J.
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W.P.(C) No.15759 of 2021
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Dated this the 3rd day of September, 2021
JUDGMENT
The first petitioner is the daughter of the second
petitioner. The first petitioner is pursuing B.Sc. Nursing Course
at Mar Sleeva College of Nursing, Pala. The petitioners have
applied for an educational loan of Rs.4 lakhs to the Kalaketti
Branch of the State Bank of India (the Bank) on 28.05.2019, so
as to enable the first petitioner to pursue her education. Having
found that the credit history of the second petitioner is doubtful
in terms of the information received from the Credit Information
Bureau India Limited (the CIBIL), a Credit Information Company
registered under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation)
Act, 2005, the application for loan preferred by the petitioners
was returned. The petitioners are aggrieved by the said decision
of the Bank. According to the petitioners, an application for
educational loan cannot be rejected based on adverse credit
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
information relating to the co-applicant/co-borrower. The
petitioners, therefore, seek directions to the Bank to accept the
application for loan submitted by them, process the same and
disburse the loan without delay.
2. A counter affidavit has been filed in the matter
on behalf of the Bank. The stand taken by the Bank in the
counter affidavit is that it is obligatory for the Banks to appraise
the credit worthiness of the applicants for loan based on credit
information reports received from one or more credit
information companies, in terms of the circulars issued by the
Reserve Bank of India; that it is provided therefore in the
schemes formulated by the Bank from time to time for grant of
educational loan that borrowers/co-borrowers/guarantors of
educational loans should not have any adverse credit history
and that it is in the said circumstances that the application for
educational loan submitted by the petitioners was returned by
the Bank. As such, according to the Bank, the decision of the
Bank to reject the application for educational loan is in order. It
is also stated in the counter affidavit that the petitioners have
approached this court after almost two years of the decision of
the Bank to reject the application for educational loan preferred
by them and the writ petition is therefore belated and liable to
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
be dismissed on that ground as well.
3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as
also the learned counsel for the Bank.
4. As rightly pointed out by the Bank, the
materials on record indicate that the application for educational
loan referred to by the petitioners in the writ petition is one
preferred by them as early as on 28.05.2019 and the same was
returned by the Bank sometime during 2019 itself. The writ
petition is filed on 03.08.2021. There is no pleading in the writ
petition as to the reason for not challenging the decision of the
Bank within a reasonable time. There is also no pleading in the
writ petition as to whether the first petitioner is still pursuing
the course and if so, whether she has remitted the fee payable
for the last two years. The writ petition proceeds as if the same
is instituted immediately after the impugned decision. The
materials on record indicate that even the educational loan
scheme of the Bank which was prevailing at the time when the
application of the petitioners was returned, has been revised on
a few occasions thereafter. In the circumstances, I am of the
view that this court would not be justified in examining the
correctness of the stand taken by the Bank during 2019 in this
belated writ petition.
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
The writ petition, in the circumstances, is dismissed.
It is however, made clear that the judgment will not preclude
the petitioners from submitting a fresh application for
educational loan, if the need subsists even now. As the
petitioners are given liberty to prefer a fresh application for
educational loan, the contentions raised by them in the writ
petition are left open.
Sd/-
P.B.SURESH KUMAR
JUDGE
Mn
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 15759/2021
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 30.10.2018
GRANTING PROVISIONAL AFFILIATION OF THE
STATE OF KERALA TO MAR SLEEVA COLLEGE
OF NURISNG, PALA
Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED
30.10.2018 ISSUED BY THE PRINCIPAL OF
MAR SEEVA COLLEGE OF NURSING, PALA, TO
THE 1ST PETITIONER
Exhibit P3 TRUE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE PETITIONERS
EDUCATIONAL LOAN APPLICATION, SUBMITTED
BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT DATED NIL
Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE NOTE OF RETURN OF
APPLICATION FOR EDUCATIONAL LOAN
RESPONDENT EXHIBITS
Exhibit R1(a) TRUE COPY OF THE CIRCULAR DATED
27/06/2014 ISSUED BY THE RESERVE BANK
OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(b) TRUE COPY OF THE CIRCULAR DATED
18/04/2007 ISSUED BY THE RESERVE BANK
OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(c) TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
CIRCULAR DATED 10/07/2017 ISSUED BY THE
STATE BANK OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(d) TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
CIRCULAR DATED 02/12/2019 ISSUED BY THE
STATE BANK OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(e) TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
CIRCULAR DATED 20/03/2021 ISSUED BY THE
STATE BANK OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(f) TRUE COPY OF THE CIRCULAR DATED
WP(C) NO. 15759 OF 2021
17/01/2018 ISSUED BY THE STATE BANK OF
INDIA.
Exhibit R1(g) TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
CIRCULAR DATED 01/07/2015 ISSUED BY THE
STATE BANK OF INDIA.
Exhibit R1(h) TRUE COPY OF THE CHART PREPARED BY THE
PETITIONER SHOWING THE PERFORMANCE OF
EDUCATIONAL LOAN AS ON DECEMBER 2020.
Exhibit R1(i) TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE
CIRCULAR DATED 04/09/2020 ISSUED BY THE
STATE BANK OF INDIA.
