JUDGMENT :

PRAYER: First Appeal filed under Section 96 of Civil Procedure Code to set aside the judgment and decree made in O.S.No.23 of 2005 dated 31.10.2006 on the file of the Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court-II, Ranipet), Vellore District.

This Appeal Suit is filed by the defendants 1, 2 and 4 aggrieved by the judgment and decree dated 31.10.2006 in O.S.No.23 of 2005 (originally O.S.No.9 of 2005) passed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court-II, Ranipet), Vellore District in and by which the Suit for recovery of money filed by the plaintiff bank was decreed by the Trial Court by passing a preliminary decree directing the defendants to deposit a sum of Rs.18,12,933.99/- with further interest at the rate of 6% per annum till the date of realisation. In this judgment, the parties are referred to in the same ranking as before the Trial Court.

2. The case of the plaintiff/Bank is that the first defendant is a partnership firm and the defendants 2 to 4 are its partners. The firm availed a loan of Rs.50,000/- on 07.06.1989 agreeing to repay the debt with interest at the rate of 16.5% per annum compounded quarterly for the value received. A