RUKMINI DEVI Vs. BIHAR STATE HOUSING

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition, the petitioner has sought for a direction to the respondent-Federation to release all documents concerned relating to her house, which are still lying in the office of the respondents irrespective of the fact that entire finally calculated and demanded amount of dues of the Federation has already been paid by her.

(2.) In short, the relevant facts are that the petitioner took loan of Rs. 50,000.00 and her husband was guarantor of the said loan. The husband of the petitioner died on 30th October, 1985. According to the case of the petitioner, the said loan was taken by her as per the scheme of the Bihar Cooperative Housing Finance Society Ltd. The respondent-Federation stepped into the shoes of the said Society and as such, they are bound by the terms as provided for in the Scheme, contained in Annexure-1. As per the said Scheme, benefit of Group Life Insurance was that after the death of the member, the remaining loan amount shall not be required to be paid and the descendant will get title over the house. The words 'guarantor' and the 'member' are defined in the Group Insurance Scheme which is at page 54. According to it, 'the guarantor' shall mean the person who has agreed to guarantee repayment of the loan (principal and interest thereon) which has been disbursed by the Finance Society for a female borrower who is not in receipt of an income. The definition of the words 'the member' mean the particular borrower or the guarantor who has been admitted to the membership of the Scheme and whose life an assurance has been or is to be effected in accordance with the Rules.

(3.) It is, thus, submitted on behalf of the petitioner that under the said scheme, there is no liability of the petitioner to pay the remaining amount of loan after the death of her husband on 30th October, 1985. However, as a bona fide loanee, the petitioner continued to pay the remaining amount of loan as demanded from time to time by the respondent-Federation so much so that even pursuant to the letter of the Federation dated 3.2.1995, contained in Annexure-12, whereby final accounting showing balance dues payable as Rs. 8,813.18 was deposited by her with the Federation vide receipt dated 25.4.95, contained in Annexure-13, yet the respondents did not release the documents submitted by the petitioner at the time of taking loan.