MOHINDER PAL SINGH Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of Civil Writ Petition No. 11662 of 2010 and Civil Writ Petition No. 299 of 2011, challenging the action of the Bank in taking possession of the secured assets, even though the amount of the financial assistance stands substantially paid.

(2.) For the facility of reference, the facts are taken from Civil Writ Petition No. 11662 of 2010. The petitioner herein availed loan of Rs. 10 lacs on 23.8.2006 and mortgaged the property, a piece of land, as collateral security. The petitioner defaulted in payment of the loan which led to the issuance of a notice under Section 13(2) of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (for short 'the Act'). A copy of the said notice, produced by the respondent-Bank in Court, shows the outstanding amount as Rs. 12,15,630/- as on 15.5.2008 along with further interest and incidental expenses. The Bank vide letter dated 12.9.2008 sought the assistance of an Enforcement Agency, namely, M/s Vrinda Corporate Services Ltd., to take possession of the immovable and movable property as an agent of the Bank. Subsequently, a notice for taking possession under Section 13(4) of the Act was issued on 4.2.2009 by the Authorized Officer of the Bank. Such notice was published in the newspaper "The Hindustan Times" on 9.2.2009. The petitioner failed to make payment of the amount, which led to the issuance of another notice dated 27.5.2009 under Section 13(4) of the Act. Such notice under Section 13(4) of the Act, was published in the newspaper 'The Tribune' (English Edition) and vernacular newspaper 'Punjabi Tribune' dated 13.6.2009 proposing the date of auction as 17.7.2009. The amount mentioned in the sale notice was Rs. 12,15,630/- along with interest. The petitioner deposited a sum of Rs. 2.00 lacs on 13.7.2009 and sought six months' time to deposit the balance amount.

(3.) Another public notice was published in the newspapers 'The Tribune' (English Edition) and vernacular newspaper 'Punjabi Tribune' dated 5.6.2010 proposing the date of sale as 7.7.2010. The petitioner deposited the balance amount in parts with last deposit of Rs. 2,17,444/- on 25.6.2010. As per the petitioner, with the said deposit, there was only one rupee in the debit account, as per the statement of account Annexure P.4 appended with the writ petition. In view of the statement of account (Annexure P.4), it is argued that the entire amount, as mentioned in the notice under Sections 13(2) and 13(4) of the Act, stands paid, therefore, for the non deposit of the interest amount, the property cannot be sold.