STATE BANK OF INDIA Vs. NIKHIL MATHEW

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appeal arises from the judgment of the learned Single Judge, which directed grant of One Time Settlement [for brevity "OTS"] under a scheme brought out by the State Bank of India [for brevity "SBI"]; the appellant.

(2.) The sparse facts which require to be stated, for consideration of this appeal are that the 1st respondent herein, who was the writ petitioner, availed of a Career Loan from the SBI. It so happened that the father of the borrower a SBI employee, stood as co-obligant to the loan along with mortgage offered of immovable property. The 1st respondent pursued a pilot training course, with the loan; but could not secure a suitable job on completion and hence could not liquidate the loan liability. For the last ten years, the 1st respondent had paid about Rs.26 lakhs in the loan account and on receiving Exhibit P6 communication, the 1st respondent sought for inclusion of the loan account under the OTS scheme.

(3.) The OTS scheme was called "RINN SAMADHAN-II SCHEME"; the salient features of which are available in Annexure A1 produced along with the Review Petition. However, the Bank declined consideration of the loan account under the OTS Scheme by Exhibit P7. The Bank's contention was that it was a staff loan account, since the co-obligant, the father of the 1st respondent, was an employee of SBI.