The court established that compliance with agreed repayment terms is essential for regularizing a defaulted loan account, demonstrating the interplay of borrower obligations and lender rights.

JUDGMENT

The prayers in the above Writ Petition (Civil) are as follows:

“(i)To issue a writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, calling for the records leading up to Exhibit P2 and quash Exhibits P1 and P2.

(ii)To issue a writ of mandamus or other writ or order, directing the respondents to regularize the loan account referred in Exhibit P1 notice and direct the respondents to grant a breathing time to the petitioner to wipe out the defaulted monthly installments amounts.

(iii)to issue such other further reliefs as this Honourable Court may deed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of this case.”

2. Heard Sri.N.Sunil Joseph, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri.Jawahar Jose, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents (State Bank of India). Sri.Jawahar Jose, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents would submit on the basis of instruction of his parties that the respondent State Bank of India is prepared to grant reasonable time to the petitioner to clear the total outstanding dues owed by the petitioner to the respondent Bank in the present loan transaction is Rs.9,11,826/- as on date and that the respondent Bank is prepared to give reasonable time to the petitioner, so as to clear the entire outstanding dues in ten monthly instalments, inclusive of all charges and interest and that in case, the petitioner complies with the said condition, then the Bank would close the loan account, etc. and that this Court may also impose appropriate default clauses.

3. Accordingly, the following directions and orders are passed:

(i) The competent official of the respondent Bank shall immediately furnish a comprehensive and authenticated statement of accounts pertaining to the instant loan transaction, so as to precisely and clearly show the total dues to be paid by the borrower in the above transaction and the details may also be shown in the said statement, as to how the said figures have been arrive at, to the petitioner and this may be done within one week.

(ii) The petitioner will clear the balance outstanding dues in ten equal monthly instalments, inclusive of all applicable charges and interest starting from 10.02.2020 and ending on 02.11.2020 subject to the condition that the petitioner should also pay the applicable charges and interest thereon.

(iii) In case, the petitioner complies with all the above conditions and clears the entire dues as aforestated, then the respondent Bank may take necessary steps to ensure that the loan account of the petitioner is regularised. Until then, further steps pursuant to the impugned proceedings shall be kept in abeyance. Further that the petitioner shall pay the regular EMIs in time.

(iv) On the other hand, if the petitioner commits default of any one of the instalments, then the benefit of the abovesaid directions will stand automatically vacated without any further orders of this Court, in which case, the respondent Bank will be at liberty to proceed further with the impugned steps from the stage where it has stopped. In such an eventuality it is also ordered that the petitioner will have to give up all his contentions that are otherwise available to him to be raised in appropriate proceedings before the competent fora.

With these observations and directions, the above Writ Petition (Civil) stands finally disposed of.