MAMMALIKUTTY Vs. KOTTAKKAL CO-OPERATIVE URBAN BANK LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner says that he had availed of a housing loan facility from the respondent bank but concedes that he had defaulted payment of the installments as per the loan sanction. Various reasons have been cited by the petitioner in causing this default, but suffice to say that his assertion is that such default was not on account of any deliberate design. He further submits that the respondent Bank has now taken physical possession of the secured asset, which is stated to be his residential house, and therefore, prays that the bank be directed to return possession of the house and to permit him to pay off the overdue amounts in installments, so as to regularise the loan, which he says will, thereafter, be satisfactorily operated by him as per the original loan sanction.

(2.) In response to the petitioner's submissions as afore, the learned Standing Counsel for the Bank submitted that his clients are not willing to hand over possession of the secured asset to the petitioner, since its physical possession was taken by them with great effort. He says that every time they had attempted to take possession of the property in the past, they had faced stiff resistance from the petitioner and his men and therefore, that they cannot trust him in future. He says that the petitioner may, however, pay off the entire overdue amounts which, according to him, is Rs.10,83,590/- as on 19/12/2018, along with all applicable charges and interest, in about 10 equal monthly installments, so that the Bank can then regularise the loan and return possession of the secured asset to him thereafter.

(3.) On hearing the learned Standing Counsel for the bank as above, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that his client does not have enough resources to pay the entire overdues immediately and that he will pay Rs.5,00,000/- on or before 31/01/2019 and that the Bank may be directed to return possession of the property, which his client will hold permissively under the Bank, without asserting any rights even in equity on account of the return of such possession.