SENTHIL ARUMUGASAMY Vs. DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The erstwhile managing director of a company, that has now gone into liquidation pursuant to an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal, questions the propriety of an order dated August 09, 2019 passed by the State Bank of India branding him as a wilful defaulter within the meaning of the expression in the Master Circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India on July 01, 2015.

(2.) The principal ground urged by the petitioner is that there does not appear to be any consideration of the petitioner's representation and no application of mind by the Review Committee of the bank.

(3.) A notice was issued on May 10, 2018 by the State Bank of India to several directors of the borrower company which had obtained credit facilities in connection with its business. Though the copy notice appearing at page 184 of the papers filed by the petitioner pertains to another then director of the relevant company, there is no dispute that the contents of the individual notices issued to the several directors were the same. In essence, the relevant notice claimed that the erstwhile State Bank of Travancore, which had since merged into the State Bank of India, as a part of a consortium of banks, had granted credit facilities to company Senthil Paper and Boards Pvt. Ltd and the loan account had been classified as a non-performing asset with effect from March 31, 2017. The notice then proceeded to state as follows: