(1.) THIS is an appeal from the judgment and decree of the learned Additional Subordinate Judge, Upper Assam Districts by which plaintiff's claim was decreed in part with proportionate costs. The decree was against defendant 1 personally and against the Estate of Girija Kanta Roy, deceased, in the hands of defendants 2, 5 and 6. The suit was dismissed against defendants 3, 4 and 7 daughters of Girija Kanta Boy. Plaintiff has appealed to this Court.
(2.) THE suit was for recovery of a sum of Rs. 15,306/11/ -. The claim included interest and incidental charges. The case for the plaintiff bank (The Tripura Modern Bank Ltd., Dibrugarh) was that Sushil Chandra Dutta, defendant 1 and Girija Kanta Eoy, deceased predecessor -in -interest of defendants 2 to 7, had separate personal accounts with the plaintiff bank. Both needed money for their business as forest contractors and asked for accommodation on an overdraft basis. The joint overdraft account was opened on their request. On the day the account was opened, a sum of Rs. 13,072/8/9 was debited to the joint account. This debit came from the separate personal accounts of defendant 1 and Girija Kanta Boy, deceased. Thereafter both defendant 1 and Girija Kanta operated on the accounts. On the date of the suit the amount due from them was said to be Rs. 15,306/11/. The defendants not only denied liability. They denied every single allegation contained in the plaint and resisted the suit on several grounds.
(3.) THE learned counsel for the plaintiff -appellant has not made any serious attempt to show that there was sufficient cause for the failure of the bank to put in the documents bearing on the liability of defendant 1 and Girija Kanta on their personal accounts, earlier. In spite of this he urged that the learned Judge of the trial Court has not exercised the discretion which vested in him under Order 13, Rule 2, Civil P. C., according to recognised judicial principles. The result has been that there has been no proper trial of the case, important evidence bearing on the bulk of the claim having been completely excluded from consideration.