JUDGMENT :

Biswanath Rath, J.

1. All the above three cases are taken up together for its involving a common question of law and as such decided together accordingly.

2. Short fact as reveals from the case record involving all the three cases is that the opposite party as plaintiff filed suit against the petitioners/defendants for recovery of money along with interest as appropriate as detailed in each of the plaint.

3. Common pleadings as available in all the three cases is that the plaintiff being a schedule bank is exempted from the operation of Orissa Money Lenders Act, 1975 vide Govt. of Orissa notification dated 15.07.1974 and as per Section 2(4) of Orissa Money Lenders Act, 1975 amendment vide Act 54 of 1975. The defendants being the Secretary and Director of Jeevandhara Women's Community Trust, Narla Road (in short, JWCT) approached the plaintiff bank for accommodation by way of loan facilities of as the borrower for lending to the members of certain numbers of Self Help Group (in short, SHG) to which the plaintiff bank agreed and issued sanction letters to the borrower i.e. defendants. It is further pleaded that to secure the loan facilities, the defendants executed an agreemen