(1.) Leave granted.
(2.) Whether realization of the duty under the Central Excise Act will have priority over the secured debts in terms of the State Financial Corporation Act, 1951 (1951 Act) is the core question involved herein.
(3.) Respondent No. 2 borrowed a sum of Rs. 51,00,000/- from the first respondent by an Indenture of Mortgage executed on 22.12.1986. Indisputably, the mortgage created under the said document is governed by the provisions of the 1951 Act. It also owed a sum of Rs. 19,00,000/- by way of Central Excise duty for the period April 1983 to May 1988. Assessment of central excise duty for the said sum was confirmed.