P.R. Raman, J.

The above matter came up before us based on a reference dated 19th October, 2005 by the Division Bench before whom the matter came up for hearing. The short, question that requires to be answered in this reference is as to which is the appellate forum to which an appeal will lie from a decree passed by a civil court exceeding Rs.10 lakhs in a suit instituted by a financial institution?

2. The suit O.S.408/1995 was filed by the first respondent Bank before the Additional Sub Court, Kollam for realization of Rs.8,16,797/- with interest from defendants 1 to 7 who are the appellants. The suit originally instituted was for an amount of less than Rs.10 lakhs and concededly, the suit has necessarily to be filed before the civil court as the valuation of the suit is less than Rs.10 lakhs. If only it exceeds Rs.10 lakhs, the Debt Recovery Tribunal gets jurisdiction over the matter. However, eventually when the suit was decreed, it exceeded the decree amount and including interest of Rs.38,48,960/- it came to Rs.46,65,757/-. It was contended by the appellants that the appeal would lie before the High Court whereas the respondent contended that the appeal will lie, on