BASUDEO KHAITAN Vs. MADAN LAL PERIWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE plaintiffs seek refund of the balance money remaining with the escrow agent appointed to mediate in their disputes with the proforma defendants over family assets. The plaintiffs found their prayer for final judgment and decree under Chapter XIII A of the Rules on the Original side of this court on a memorandum of understanding said to be executed on May 16,1994 that was entered into to sort out differences in the family over joint assets that apparently required the first defendant, with consultation with another, to give a verdict by December 31,1994.

(2.) THE plaintiffs are the six individuals and a company said to belong to the plaintiffs' branch. The plaint says that the various groups of the Khaitan family sold their shares in Selimbong Tea Company Ltd. and Seeyok Tea Company Ltd. and deposited the sale proceeds with the second defendant, a firm that the first defendant claimed was under his control. According to the plaintiffs, the money was put in on the understanding that it would be refunded in the event the mediation was not fruitful and that 15% interest per annum would be payable on the deposit. The third to sixth defendants are the partners of the second defendant firm.

(3.) FOLLOWING the memorandum of understanding, the plaintiffs claim, the six individual plaintiffs put in a sum of Rs. 77 lakh with the firm of the first defendant and the proforma defendants deposited an aggregate sum of Rs. 2. 25 crore. The plaintiff-company put in Rs. 10 lakh on May 22, 1998 to replace the sum repaid by the defendant firm to the individual plaintiffs. The plaintiffs suggest that the rate of interest was reduced to 12% per annum from April 1, 2001 and the defendant firm confirmed the rate of interest by issuing confirmations of accounts as at March 31, 2002. The plaintiffs have relied on the balance confirmation statements issued by the defendant firm to the plaintiffs.