The main legal point established is that when defendants fail to contest the amounts claimed and raise dilatory arguments, the court can pass a decree forthwith without the need for the plaintiff to lead evidence.

Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, J.

The plaintiff has sued the 11 defendants viz. (i) Evan Multispeciality Hospital & Research Centre Pvt. Ltd., (ii) Ravinder Kumar Sahni, (iii) Raj Bahadur Singh, (iv) Rakesh Khurana, (v) Hardesh Kumar, (vi) Pankaj Jain, (vii) Anuradha Aggarwal, (viii) Shivi Agnihotri, (ix) Pramod Kumar, (x) Saurabh Singh, and, (xi) Dr. Preeti Sharma, for a) recovery of Rs.3,00,67,309/- along with future interest; and, b) permanent injunction restraining the said defendants from dealing with and/or disposing of or encumbering or creating any third party rights and interests in the hypothecated equipment being CT injector & cathlab injector, UPS 80KVA & 120 KVA MX 16 CT system, Allura FD 10 Cathlas and Local Accessories in any manner.

2. The suit was entertained and summons thereof ordered to be issued and vide ex parte ad-interim order dated 10th August, 2018, the defendants restrained from alienating, encumbering or parting with possession of or disposing of the hypothecated equipment.

3. On the last date of hearing i.e. 13th February, 2019, it was informed by the counsel for the defendants no.1 to 4, 6 and 9 to 11, counsel for defendants no.5 and 8 and the counsel for defendant no.7, that vide order dated 3rd December, 2018 of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), moratorium within the meaning of Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 had been declared with respect to defendant no.1.

4. The counsel for the plaintiff however, relying on State Bank of India Vs. V. Ramakrishnan, 2018 SCCOnLine(SC) 963 and on Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as amended with effect from 6th June, 2018, contended that the moratorium had no effect on the claim of the plaintiff in this suit against the defendants no.2 to 11 in their capacity as personal guarantors of the defendant no.1. It was thus contended that the suit, insofar as against the defendants no.2 to 11, should continue.

5. It was found on 13th February, 2019, that the defendants no.2 to 11 had not filed the written statement within the prescribed time and no application seeking extension of time for filing written statement also had been filed. Accordingly, the right of the defendants no.1 to 6 and 8 to 11 to file written statement was closed.

6. Inadvertently, while so closing the right of the said defendants to file written statement, the right of the defendant no.7 to file written statement, though in the same position as the other defendants, was not closed. The counsels for the defendants no.1 to 11 do not controvert. The order dated 13th February, 2019 be thus read as also closing the right of the defendant no.7 to file written statement.

7. However, the counsel for the plaintiff, on 13th February, 2019 was not able to show whether a decree against defendants no.2 to 11 could be passed without relegating the plaintiff to evidence and sought adjournment and the hearing was adjourned to today.

8. Today, the counsel for the plaintiff has drawn attention to the copy of the Loan Agreement dated 20th June, 2015 (Page 10 of Part-IIIA file) where under the plaintiff had agreed to advance principal amount of Rs.3,78,25,000/- to the defendant no.1 on the terms and conditions contained therein and to the Deed of Personal Guarantee dated 20th June, 2015 (Page 135 of Part-IIIA file) executed by the defendants no.2 to 11 in favour of the plaintiff, guaranteeing payments under the Loan Agreement by the defendant no.1 to the plaintiff and agreeing to indemnify and keep indemnified the plaintiff against all losses etc. which the plaintiff may suffer by reason of the liability being not satisfied by the defendant no.1.

9. The counsel for the plaintiff has otherwise drawn attention to page 186 of Part-IIIA file furnishing the particulars of the claim of the plaintiff against the defendant no.1 as on 16th July, 2018 and which records the (i) principal outstanding of Rs.2,37,80,388/-; (ii) interest outstanding of Rs.15,10,795/-; (iii) default interest at 30%