HARJEET SINGH Vs. PUNJAB & SIND BANK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The challenge by means of this Regular First Appeal filed under Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is to the impugned judgment of the Trial Court dated 9.2.2004 by which suit of the appellant/plaintiff for recovery of Rs. 5,79,000/- against the respondent-bank was dismissed by upholding the action of the respondent-bank in adjusting an amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- given by the appellant/plaintiff as lien for recovery of the amounts which were due from the father of the appellant, one Sh. Baljeet Singh. The facts of the case are that the appellant/plaintiff is the son of Sh. Baljeet Singh. Both the father and son had Savings Bank Accounts with the respondent-bank. On 19.11.1993 the father-Sh. Baljeet Singh deposited a bank draft no. 219975 in his Savings Bank Account 2185 and amount of which draft was credited in the account of the father on 20.11.1993. This bank draft was in fact a forged bank draft and when the respondent-bank came to know of this it wrote a letter dated 3.12.1993 to the father-Sh. Baljeet Singh, and which letter was received by the appellant/plaintiff as the father-Sh. Baljeet Singh was not in Delhi. The appellant/plaintiff alleges that the official of the bank said that the father of the appellant/plaintiff would be arrested in a case of fraud and therefore the appellant/plaintiff was coerced into signing a letter marking a lien for the amount of the bank draft of Rs. 5,00,000/- in the personal account of the appellant/plaintiff. The letter of the appellant/plaintiff to the respondent-bank is also of the same date, i.e. 3.12.1993. It is further pleaded that subsequently on 2.5.1994, the appellant/plaintiff wrote a letter to the respondent-bank withdrawing the lien created by him vide his letter dated 3.12.1993 and whereafter the respondent-bank informed the appellant/plaintiff that his Savings Bank Account was debited with the sum of Rs. 5,00,000/-. Pleading that the debiting of his account for the sum of Rs. 5,0,000/- was illegal after the appellant/plaintiff had withdrawn the lien granted by the letter dated 3.12.1993 in terms of his letter dated 2.5.1994, the subject suit for recovery of Rs. 5,79,000/- came to be filed.

(2.) In the written statement, the respondent-bank took up a stand that there was no coercion when the appellant/plaintiff issued the lien letter dated 3.12.1993 and which was issued to save his father from criminal prosecution and civil action. It was further pleaded by the respondent-bank that the letter granting lien in the account was voluntarily given for saving the father from the consequences of having encashed a forged bank draft. It was further pleaded that besides the father and son maintaining Savings Bank Accounts in their individual names, there was also an account in the respondent-bank in the name of M/s Balsons Paint Industries (India) in which both the father and son were partners and the amount of the forged bank draft was got transferred to the account of M/s Balsons Paint Industries (India), i.e. benefit was taken both by the father as also the appellant/plaintiff/son of the amount of the forged bank draft.

(3.) After the pleadings were completed, the Trial Court framed the following issues:-