2022 Supreme(Online)(Kar) 141
KARNATAKA HIGH COURT
*Abhay S. Oka, C. J., Sachin Shankar Magadum, J.
Bank of Baroda A Banking Company established under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1970 having its Head Office at: Baroda Bhavan R. C. Dutt Road Alkapuri Baroda v. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty and Others
C. O. M. A. P. No. 26 of 2020
1. FACTS:
By Commercial Appeal No.26 of, 2020 preferred under the provisions of S.13 (1A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 read with R.1 (r) of Order XLIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (for short 'the said Code'), the appellant therein who is the original plaintiff has taken an exception to the judgment and Order dated 28 August, 2020 passed by the learned Judge of the Commercial Court at Bengaluru. By the said judgment and Order, I.A.Nos.I and II filed by the plaintiff Bank in Commercial Suit being Commercial Original Suit No. 1 of 2020 have been partly allowed. The appeal takes an exception to that part of the impugned judgment and Order by which a part of the relief claimed on I.A.Nos.I and II was rejected. Commercial Appeal Nos.27 and 28 of 2020 have been preferred by the appellants therein who are the original defendants for challenging the same judgment and Order. For the sake of convenience, the parties are hereafter referred by their status before the Trial Court, that is to say, plaintiff and defendants
2. The first defendant is a businessman who is stated to have multiple businesses spread over the world including India, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America etc. The second defendant is the wife of the first defendant and both the defendants are the residents of City of Bengaluru. It is pleaded in the plaint that the first defendant controls various companies / entities, having their branches at Abu Dhabi, Oman and Mumbai etc. It is stated in the plaint that the plaintiff bank has sanctioned various credit facilities / loans to the said companies and to the said entities. The details thereof have been set out in paragraph 5 of the plaint. Clean demand loan facility has also been extended by the plaintiff to the first defendant. The case made out in the plaint is that as on 5 May, 2020, the plaintiff had advanced an aggregate sum of Indian Rs.2077,44,00,000 (Rupees Two Thousand Seventy Seven Crores and Forty Four Lakhs) to the first defendant and the companies / entities controlled by him.
3. In paragraph 9 of the plaint, the plaintiff has set out the details of the personal guarantees executed by the first defendant in favour of the plaintiff. The details of the said personal guarantees are as under:
' a. Personal Guarantee dated 28.02.2010, executed by Defendant No.1 to secure the repayment obligations of NMC specialty Hospital LLC, Dubai for various credit facilities obtained from plaintiff' s Abu Dhabi Branch ('Personal Guarantee - NSHLLC').
b. Personal Guarantee dated 25.03.2016, executed by Defendant No.1 to secure the repayment obligations of BRS Ventures and Holdings Limited for various syndicated credit facilities through Citibank N. A. and others (including the plaintiff) ('Personal Guarantee - BRSV').
c. Personal Guarantees dated 14.09.2017 and 23.11.2017, executed by Defendant No.1 to secure the repayment obligations of Neo Pharma LLC for various credit facilities obtained from the Plaintiff' s DIFC and Abu Dhabi Branches respectively ('Personal Guarantees - NPLLC').
d. Personal Guarantee dated 26.09.2017, executed by Defendant No.1 to secure the repayment obligations of NMC Healthcare LLC (Oman) for various credit facilities obtained from the plaintiff' s Oman Branch ('Personal Guarantee - NHLLC, Oman').
e. Personal Guarantee dated 19.06.2019 executed by Defendant No.1 to secure the repayment obligations of UAE Exchange Centre LLC (' Personal Guarantee - UAEX').
4. It is stated in paragraph 15 of the plaint that as on 5 May, 2020, the liability of the first defendant and / or the companies / entities controlled by him is to the extent of Indian Rs. 1912,52,80,000 (Rupees One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twelve Crore Fifty Two Lakh Eighty Thousand).
5. It is pointed out in the plaint that the first defendant and entities controlled by him are under distress and are under investigation by multiple Authorities including the agencies abroad. The details of the proceedings taken ag