JUDGMENT :

J.B.PARDIWALA, J.

1. Since the issues raised in both the captioned appeals are interrelated and the parties are also the same, those were taken up for hearing analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment and order.

2. For the sake of convenience, the Letters Patent Appeal No.1047 of 2021 is treated as the lead matter.

3. This appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent is at the instance of an unsuccessful writ applicant of a writ application and is directed against the judgment and order passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court dated 20.07.2021 in the Special Civil Application No.9508 of 2020, by which, the learned Single Judge declined to entertain the writ application and rejected the same.

4. The facts in brief giving rise to the present appeal may be summarized as under;

4.1 The appellant herein (original writ applicant) preferred the Special Civil Application No.9508 of 2021, seeking the following reliefs;

“(a) Your Lordships may be pleased to call for the Forensic Audit Report dated 08.05.2017, Minutes of JLM meeting dated 21.01.2020 and other records and proceedings based on which account of M/s. Vimal Oil and Foods Limited is declared as fraud and after going through the same, to quash and set aside the action of Respondent Bank of declaring the action of M/s.Vimal Oil and Foods;

(b) Your Lordships may be pleased to quash and set aside all the consequent action taken by Respondent Bank against the Petitioner pursuant to classification of account of M/s. Vimal Oil and Foods Limited as fraud;

(c) Pending hearing and final disposal of the petition, Your Lordships may be pleased to stay implementation and operation of action of Respondent Bank of declaring account of M/s. Vimal Oil and Foods Limited and all the consequential proceedings thereto;

(d) any other and further relief deemed just and proper be granted in the interest of justice;

(e) to provide for the cost of this petition.”

4.2 It appears from the materials on record that the appellant herein is one of the Directors of a Company running in the name of M/s. Vimal Oil & Foods Limited. The said Company was incorporated in the year 1992. The company availed loan facilities over a period of time from the various financial institutions.

4.3 The statutory auditor of the Respondent Bank, while conducting audit for the A.Y.2014-15, submitted a report dated 18.06.2015, wherein certain irregularities were alleged in the accounts of the Company. It was alleged that there were circuitous transactions in the bank accounts of the Company which raised suspicion about its genuineness and secondly it was alleged that the accommodative LC’s were issued by the Company in the name of some parties which were discounted and returned to the Company.

4.4 It is the case of the appellant that without affording any opportunity of hearing, the Respondent-Bank conducted a special audit in the borrowing account of the Company through one M/s. R. R. & Co., Ahmedabad. The special auditor appointed by the Respondent Bank called for certain information from the Company which was duly furnished. Based upon which the special auditor submitted its report on 10.08.2015.

4.5 Based on the report of the special audit, the respondent-Bank declared the account of the Company as a non-performing asset on 30.09.2015.

4.6 On 13.01.2016, during the course of the 5th Joint Lenders Meeting all the members of the consortium unanimously decided that the operations of the Company should not be classified as fraudulent based on mere observations made in the special audit report unless a forensic audit is conducted. Even during the 8th JLM held on 06.04.2016, all the lenders including the Respondent- Bank confirmed that neither the account of the Company was red flagged nor the Company was declared as a willful defaulter. Thereafter, on 05.07.2016, the account of the Company was red flagged by the respondent-Bank. Later, on 27.10.2016, the forensic auditor M/s. Satya Prakash Mangal & Co., New Del