1. This appeal was referred by a Division Bench of this court to the Full Bench since two important questions arise for decision in this appeal and the Division Bench considered that it was desirable that the matter be examined and pronounced upon by a larger Bench.

2. When the State Bank of Travancore, a subsidiary Bank within the meaning of clause (k) of S.2 of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 took out execution of the decree in O. S. No. 28 of 1963 in the Sub Court of Kottayam as decree-holder the judgment-debtor filed a petition under S.8 of the Kerala Agriculturists' Debt Relief Act 11 of 1970 seeking amendment of the decree in terms of the provisions of the said Act. The judgment-debtor claimed to be an agriculturist entitled to the benefit of the provisions of the Act relating to the scaling down of the debt. The Subordinate Judge assumed that the petitioner was an agriculturist. He found that the decree-holder State Bank of Travancore was a Banking Company. Since any debt exceeding three thousand rupees borrowed under a single transaction and due before the commencement of Act 11 of 1970 to any banking company was excluded from the definition