UMESH CHANDRA MISRA Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application in revision under Section 115 of the Civil P.C., which is by the judgment-debtor whose objection to the executability of the decree in question has been overruled by the executing court, raises an interesting question as to whether a decree passed on the basis of a plaint signed, verified and filed by the Branch Manager of a bank, was a nullity and thus inexecutable.

(2.) The decree-holder Bank (opposite party No. 1) instituted a suit for recovery of a sum of Rs. 24,524.27 from the petitioner and another, being the outstanding balance in a loan account against them. The said suit was decreed on contest and after passing a preliminary decree for the said amount, the final decree for sale of the hypothecated goods was also passed by the trial court and ultimately the decree was put into execution.

(3.) The judgment-debtor filed a petition under Section 47 of the Code challenging the validity of the said decree, inter alia, on the ground that the plaintiff Bank being represented by the Branch Manager of Puri and the plaint having been signed by him, the suit was not properly instituted and, therefore, the decree was a nullity. It further appears that another point that the suit should have been filed in the court of a Tribunal as provided under Section 11 of the Industrial Tribunal Act has, however, not been pressed before me.