Court permits travel abroad for a loan defaulter director, emphasizing balance of convenience and absence of criminal charges.

ORDER :

1. By way of the present application, the applicant herein is seeking permission to travel abroad i.e. Zambia and South Africa for a period between 10.4.2025 to 7.5.2025.

2. It is submitted that the applicant herein is one of the Directors of the Company namely Parvin Exim Pvt. Ltd., which was involved in trading and exports of cotton, castle sheets, etc. The applicant has no criminal case pending against him and the action to prevent the applicant from traveling abroad has been taken by the Opponent No.4- Bank on the ground that the applicant is a defaulter of the loan amount advanced by the Opponent No.4 Bank and the account of the company being declared as a 'Non-Performing Assets' on 31.12.2016. A Demand Notice dated 23.3.2017, which was issued by the respondent No.4- Bank demanding an amount of Rs.12,29,52,521.53 from the company. The Opponent No.4 proceeded further under the SARFAESI Act, against the Company and the mortgagors/ guarantors, who had mortgaged their properties to secure the alleged dues of the Opponent No.4 Bank. The properties of one of the guarantors being Parvin Agro Pvt. Ltd. has already been auctioned to the third parties. The Opponent No.4 Bank has not disclosed the amount realized from sale of the properties belonging to the Company. However, to the best of the knowledge of the applicant, an amount of Rs.1.59 Crores was realised by the sale of the said property.

3. That Mr. Abdul N. Vhora and Mr. Akbarkhan N. Vhora, who were owners and mortgagors of the property being survey No. 690/1+2 situated at village Bavla, Ahmedabad, approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) against the auction of the aforesaid property by way of Securitisation Appeal No. 26/2022 which is still pending. The Opponent Bank has also filed Original Application under the provisions of the Recovery of Debts Due to the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 against the company and its guarantors being Original Application No. 316/2017 which is pending. It is further submitted that the applicant is also a Director of Pravin Cotton Pvt. Ltd. which was involved in the work of processing and ginning of cotton and cotton seeds. The Opponent No.4 has sanctioned a cash credit hypothecation an a term loan in favour of Parvin Cotton Pvt. Ltd. on 1.10.2015 to the tune of Rs.3,60,00,000/- for the purpose of setting up a processing unit in Hyderabad. The company could not honour its financial commitments due to difficulties in the financial set-up and, therefore, the company defaulted in repayment of the loan amount. The outstanding amount as on 31.3.2018 was Rs.2,99,19,863/-. Recently, the company cleared the entire outstanding amount with interest and penal interest of Rs.4,86,00,000/- approximately. The Opponent No.4 has also issued Release Deed on 19.11.2022 in favour of the company. It was submitted that the applicant herein has undertaken several foreign trips in the past.

4. Mr. D.K. Puj, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the applicant has planned to visit Zambia and South Africa for a period between 10.4.2025 to 7.5.2025 for business purposes. The applicant has filed the present application, seeking permission to travel to Zambia and South Africa for a period between 10.4.2025 to 7.5.2025.

5. Ms. Nalini Lodha, learned advocate appearing for the respondent No.4- Bank objected to the reliefs as prayed for by the applicant herein, by filing present application. Ms. Lodha, learned advocate submitted that the present application may not be considered as the case sought to be projected by the applicant to justify the permission for going abroad for business purpose cannot be countenanced in the facts of the present case. She submits that insofar as the case of Pravin Agro Pvt. Ltd. is concerned, the same is of no relevance as the opponent Bank is concerned with the loan account of Pravin Exim Pvt. Ltd. (PETL) wherein the applicant is a key director and also a guarantor. She submits that previously, the appli