H. RANGAVITTALACHAR, J.

( 1 ) PETITIONER claims to be the absolute owner of the immovable property bearing No. 189, Sy. No. 4/1, Binnamangala Manavartha Kaval Village, K. R. Puram, Bangalore. His wife -R Mallika was a partner of the 3rd respondent - M/s British Instrumentation Systems. The firm was sanctioned a loan of Rs. 11,50,000/- by the Karnataka State Financial Corporation (KSFC ). For the due repayment of the said loan, petitioner stood as a guarantor and the property in question was furnished as a collateral security. When the firm defaulted in paying the loan, the KSFC issued a Certificate addressed to the Deputy Commissioner bringing to his knowledge the debt due by the Firm and the fact of the petitioner standing as a guarantor by furnishing immovable property as collateral security. On the basis of the said certificate, the Deputy Commissioner, in exercise of powers under the Karnataka Public Monies (Recovery of Dues) Act, (hereinafter referred to as the 'act' for brevity) has directed the property of the petitioner to be sold by public auction for recovery of the dues. The Special Tahsildar - 2nd respondent herein, has notified the property for public auction vide annexures J and K. These sale notifications are questioned by the petitioner.

( 2 ) THE main contention of Sri Amar Kumar, appearing for the petitioner is that the provisions of the Act cannot be used against the guarantor to a loan transaction. The said provisions apply only against a principal debtor. Therefore, the sale notifications are void ab initio. In support of the said contention, learned counsel read to me Ss. 3 and 4 of the Act and submitted that a close reading of the said sections in conjunction, will clearly show that the KSFC is entitled to proceed only against the assets of the principal debtor and not against the guarantor. According to the learned counsel, the assets of the guarantor may be liable under the provisions of the other Acts, not under the provisions of the Act; The argument no doubt looked attractive but, on a closer analysis of the provisions of Ss. 3 and 4 of the Act and Ss. 126 and 127 of the Indian Contract Act, the same has to be discarded.

( 3 ) KARNATAKA Public Monies (Recovery of Dues) Act, is an Act which was enacted mainly for the purpose of providing for speedy recovery of public monies of Financial Institutions and Banking Companies defined under the Act. Under S. 3, the heads of the institutions or the persons defined are entitled to send Certificates after following certain procedure of notifying the borrowers or other parties to the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner who is empowered to act on the basis of the said Certificate to recover the monies as arrears of land revenue. The parties against whom such a Certificate can be issued is spelt out in Ss. 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d. Section 3a which is relevant for the present purpose is extracted herein omitting what is not relevant. Section 3 : Recovery of certain dues as arrears of land revenue- (1) Where any person is a party - (A) to any agreement relating to a loan, advance or grant given to him or relating to credit in respect of, or relating to hire purchase of goods sold to him by the State Government or the Corporation, by way of financial assistance; b ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C) to any agreement relating to a guarantee given by the State Government or the Corporation in respect of a loan raised by an industrial concern, or d) to any agreement providing that any money payable thereunder to the State Government shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue; and such person- a) makes any default in payment of the loan or advance or any instalment thereof; or b) having become liable under the conditions of the grant to refund the grant or any portion thereof, makes any default in the refund of such grant or portion or any instalment thereof; or c) otherwise fails to comply with the terms of the agreement, then- i) in the case of the State Govern

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