2006 (4) ALT 581 (D.B.)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD
G.S. SINGHVI, C.J. and G. BHAVANI PRASAD, J.
A. Anuradha and others - Petitioners
Versus
Canara Bank rep. by its Chief Manager, M.G. Road Branch, Secunderabad - Respondent
W.P. No.2007 of 2006
Decided on 2-2-2006.
Advocates appeared
Mr. N.V. Anantha Krishna, Counsel for the Petitioners.
Mr. Deepak Bhattacharjee, Counsel for the Respondent.
HELD : In our view, by withholding the documents, which have direct bearing on the decision of the writ petition, the petitioners have tried to mislead the Court in accepting their innocuous prayer for issuance of a direction to the respondent to entertain their representation and, keeping in view the settled proposition of law that a party seeking relief under Article 226 of the Constitution must approach the Court with clean hands and the one who suppresses the facts or makes an attempt to mislead the Court is not· entitled to be heard on the merits of the case, we are not inclined to entertain their prayer. Although the petitioners are seeking to restrain the respondent and the Advocate Commissioner appointed under Section 14 of the Act from taking possession of the property mortgaged by the borrower, they have neither impleaded the Advocate Commissioner as party respondent nor they have challenged order passed by the competent Court and, without going into the legality of that order, it is not possible to entertain the prayer made in the writ petition.
Truth was the hallmark of the justice delivery system which operated in the country till the establishment of the court system under British rule. The people used to tell truth and truth only without being influenced by its consequences. In the present day judicial system the truth is perhaps the biggest casualty. Unscrupulous litigants like the petitioners leave no stone unturned to mislead the quasi-judicial and judicial authorities and the courts for material gains. The entire system has become victim of such persons. In order to meet this challenge, the courts have evolved new rules, strategies and techniques. One such rule is that the court will not grant hearing to a person who does not approach it with clean hands.
In this petition, the petitioners have prayed that the respondent Canara Bank be restrained from dispossessing them from the premises bearing Municipal No.15-5-826, 15-5-826B, 15-5-826/1, 15-5-826/2 and 15-5-826/3 admeasuring 272 square yards situated at Afzulgunj, Hyderabad. They have further prayed for issuance of a direction to the respondent to give them an opportunity to repay the amount outstanding against late Sri K. Veeresh Murthy.
2. Late Sri K. Veeresh Murthy, husband of petitioner No.1 and father of petitioners No.2 to 4 took a loan of Rs.25,00,000/- from the respondent Bank and mortgaged the property in question by a registered deed executed in favour of the Bank. On account of non-repayment of the loan, the Bank initiated proceedings against the borrower under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (for short the Act). In the first instance, notice under Section 13 (2) was issued. This was followed by notice under Section 13 (4). Thereafter; on an application made by the Bank under Section 14 of the Act, the concerned Court passed an order for appointment of Advocate Commissioner for taking possession of the property. Late Sri K. Veeresh Murthy does not appear to have challenged notices issued by the Bank under Sections 13 (2) and 13 (4) of the Act. After his death on 29-10-2005, the petitioners also do not appear to have pursued the matter and contested the application filed by the Bank under Section 14 of the Act. However, when the Advocate Commissioner tried to take possession of the property in furtherance of order passed by the competent court, they made representation dated 16-1-2006 for grant of time to clear the dues outstanding against late Sri K. Veeresh Murthy and then filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
3. Sri N.V. Anantha Krishna made a strenuous effort to persuade us to issue a direction to the respondents to consider representation dated 16-1-2006 and give 9 months time to them to clear the outstanding dues, but we have not folt persuaded to entertain the writ petition because,
(a) the petitioners have not approached the Court with clean hands inasmuch as they have deliberately omitted to place on record copies of notices issued by the respondent Bank under Sections 13(2) and 13(4) of the Act, Order dated 7-4-2005 passed by Debts Recovery Tribunal, Hyderabad dismissing SA No.77 of 2005. Copy of the order passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate under Section 14 has also not been placed before the Court. It is not the petitioners case that they do not have knowledge of the notices issued by the respondent Bank under Sections 13(2) and 13(4) of the Act or the order passed by the competent Court under Section 14 of the Act. It is therefore reasonable to presume that they have deliberately omitted to place the relevant documents before the Court. In our view, by withholding the documents, which have direct bearing on the decision of the writ petition, the petitioners have tried to mislead the Court in accepting their innocuous prayer for issuance of a direction to the respondent to entertain their representation and, keeping in view the settled proposition of law that a party seeking relief under Article 226 of the Constitution must approach the Court with clean hands and the one who suppresses the facts or makes an attempt to mislead the Court is not· entitled to be heard on the merits of the case, we are not inclined to entertain their prayer.
4. In this connection, it is apposite to observe that Satya (truth) and Ahinsa (nonviolence) are the two basic values of life, which have been cherished for centuries in this land of Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi. People from different parts of the world come here to learn these fundamental principles of life. However, post-independence era and particularly the last two decades have witnessed sharp decline in these two basic values of life. Mat
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