JUDGMENT :

Can a public sector Nationalised Bank, refuse to pay the proceeds of a fixed deposit, to the holder of the deposit, on the ground that a consent is required from a person from whose account the amount for opening the fixed deposit account was debited; is the question that needs to be decided in this writ petition. A question which may seem simple and ridiculous at the same time, for a person familiar with banking laws and the fundamentals of the law of contract, but which has some wedged corners as can be seen from the facts narrated below.

2. The following facts are not disputed. The petitioner, a Charitable Trust, is conducting an educational institution by name Sree Krishna College of Pharmacy and Research Centre at Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram district. The college was granted provisional affiliation on 19.09.2006. The petitioner had to provide a financial guarantee for a sum of Rs.10 lakhs for the purpose of the affiliation. The petitioner furnished the financial guarantee on 20.09.2006, by means of a fixed deposit receipt, issued in the name of the petitioner by the 1st respondent Bank and endorsed in favour of the University. Ext.P3 is the copy of the fixed depos