JUDGMENT :

1) By way of this petition, the petitioners have prayed for the following relief(s):

“10.1 That, this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any appropriate writ, order or direction to call for the records of S.A. No. 584/2022 and set-aside the order dated 08.06.2023 passed in I.A. No. 1945/2023 and I.A. No.1949/2023 to the extent of condition of pre-deposit has been imposed.

10.2 That, this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any appropriate writ, order or direction to direct the DRT, Jabalpur to decide the legal issues noted in para 7 to 15 of order dated 17.05.2023 in accordance with law;

10.3 To allow the cost of this petition with any other appropriate relief(s) may kindly be granted to the petitioner and,

10.4 Any other relief(s) which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, may also kindly be granted.”

2) The facts of the present case are the petitioner’s company, through its Directors, has availed various credit facilities from the respondent banks since the year 2008. Subsequently, the petitioner company, with the directors and guarantors, availed a cash credit (hypothecation) limit of Rs. 74.50 Crore and a term loan of Rs. 22.00 Crore, totaling Rs. 96.50 Crore from respondent banks 1 and 2. This was done under a consortium called "the PNB Consortium" in March 2015. Additionally, petitioner Nos. 2, 4, and 5 acted as personal guarantors, while petitioner Nos. 6 and 7 acted as corporate guarantors, executing guarantee agreements in favor of the consortium members (respondent banks) on 24.03.2015. To further secure the repayment of the aforementioned credit facilities, amounting to Rs. 96.50 Crore, petitioner number 1 along with the directors, created and extended an equitable mortgage on their immovable properties in favor of the lead bank of the consortium, i.e., respondent No.1/Punjab National Bank (PNB). The specific details regarding the properties are provided in the notices issued under Section 13(2) and 13(4) of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (for shot, the Act, 2002), in favor of the bank on 24.03.2015.

3) Afterwards, petitioner No.1/company, with its Directors, availed enhanced fund-based and non-fund-based credit facilities amounting to Rs. 129.93 Crore. Out of this, the exposure of respondent No.1/PNB was Rs. 68.25 Crore, and respondent No.2/Union Bank of India (UBI) was Rs. 61.68 Crore. These credit facilities were obtained from the respondent banks under the consortium named "the PNB Consortium" in March 2018. In these loan transactions, petitioner Nos. 2, 4, and 5 acted as personal guarantors, while petitioner Nos. 6 and 7 acted as corporate guarantors, executing guarantee agreements in favor of the consortium members, i.e., the respondent banks. To further secure the repayment of the mentioned credit facilities totaling Rs. 129.93 Crore, petitioner No. 1 Company, along with its directors, created and extended an equitable mortgage. Additionally, petitioner Nos. 2, 4, and 5 extended the equitable mortgage on their immovable properties in favor of the lead bank of the consortium, respondent No.1/PNB bank, on 27.03.2018.

4) Following that, in June 2020, petitioner No.1/company, through its directors, also availed the Covid-19 Emergency Line of Credit (CELC) limit of Rs. 5.00 Crore from respondent No.2/UBI. In this loan transaction, petitioner Nos. 2, 4, and 5 acted as personal guarantors, while petitioner nos. 6 and 7 acted as corporate guarantors, executing guarantee agreements in favor of respondent No.2/UBI. To further secure the repayment of this credit facility, petitioner No.1/company, along with its Directors, and petitioner Nos. 2, 4, and 5, extended the equitable mortgage on their immovable properties in favor of the lead bank of the consortium, respondent No.1/PNB bank. The documents regarding the extension of the equitable mortgage are annexed as Annexur