ICICI BANK LTD. Vs. VIJAYKUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition is directed against the impugned order dtd. 4/11/2022 passed on I.A.No.2 in O.S.No.234/2022 on the file of Principal Civil Judge and J.M.F.C. Dharwad seeking impleadment of defendant to the suit.

(2.) Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned counsel for the respondents and perused the material on record.

(3.) The material on record discloses that the respondent No.1/plaintiff instituted the aforesaid suit for declaration and other reliefs against respondents No.2 to 4. In this context, it is relevant to state that in the plaint, respondents No.2 to 4 who were arrayed as defendants No.1 to 3 are none other than the CEO and Managing Director, General Manager of the petitioner-bank at Sangli and the General Manager of the petitioner-bank at Corporate Office, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. When the suit was pending adjudication, the petitioner herein filed the instant application- I.A.No.2 seeking impleadment on the ground that the petitioner was an independent, legal and juristic entity which has to be sued in its own name and consequently, the suit filed by the respondent No.1/plaintiff seeking reliefs against the petitioner- bank requires the presence of the petitioner-bank in whose absence no effective decree can pass in the suit and as such petitioner was both a proper and necessary party to the suit. The said application having been opposed by respondent No.1/plaintiff, the trial Court proceeded to pass the impugned order rejecting I.A.No.2, aggrieved by which the petitioner is before this Court by way of present petition.