BINOD KUMAR NAYAK Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A statement of one's loan account, one would expect to get from the bank/financial institution in the normal course. But in this State it is seldom, if ever, that the borrower is able to get a copy of his loan account. Curiously, in a large number of cases coming to the notice of this Court the statement of the loan account was not furnished to the borrower even when a certificate case was instituted by the bank/financial institution for recovery of its dues. In the absence of the statement of account, the borrower, facing the highly coercive recovery proceeding is at a disadvantage to see whether or not the interest was charged correctly and payments, if any, made by him were duly accounted for. The case in hand only illustrates the point.

(2.) The petitioner took an agricultural term loan of Rs. 1,90,000/- from the State Bank of India, Agriculture Development Branch, Basopatti, Madhubani. The loan was granted on March, 2, 1996 and in terms of the loan agreement it was repayable in 18 six monthly instalments, each of Rs. 10555/- plus interest, commencing from 1-7-1997. Though the payments were not made on schedule and the amounts paid were not as per the instalment amount fixed in the agreement, it is undeniable that the petitioner made substantial payments towards the liquidation of the loan.

(3.) Having deposited substantial amounts, the petitioner assumed (though erroneously) that he had fully paid off the dues and asked the Bank to give him the No Dues Certificate. The Bank of course did not issue the Certificate for the simple reason that the loan was not fully liquidated and there were outstanding dues against him. But at the same time the Bank never cared to give the petitioner a statement of account that would have shown the manner in which interest was charged and the exact amount remaining due after taking into account the payments made by him.