1. With the consent of the parties, the matter is taken up for final hearing.

The petitioner is the borrower of certain sums of money from respondent No.1 bank. Respondent Nos.3 and 4 herein had mortgaged their properties in favour of the bank as security for the loan obtained by the petitioner from the bank. The principle amount was Rs.5.00 lakh. The bank filed suit in O.S.No.167/1993 for recovery before the Civil Court (Sr.Dn.), Mangalore for recovery of Rs.9,77,380/- which included principal amount, interest, cost and other expenses. Said suit came to be decreed by the Civil Court on 29th July 1995. Said decree has attained finality. It is needless to observe that the decree has attained finality not only against the petitioner, but also against the mortgagers of the properties. In the mean-while, the Enactment viz., Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 (for short ‘Act’) came into force w.e.f. 24.6.1993. The bank filed application before the Debts Recovery Tribunal under Section 19 of the Act on 31.3.1999 for recovery of debts. However, said application was kept pending in the Registry of Debts Recovery Tribunal till 14.3.2000, on which d