IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS Reserved on : 27.11.2023 Pronounced on : 05.12.2023 CORAM:

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABDUL QUDDHOSE Application No.3941 of 2023 in C.S.(Comm.Div.)No.251 of 2022 Prathap. B .. Applicant/3^rd defendant vs.

1.Neelam Brahmbhatt and others .. Respondents For Applicant : Mr.A.K.Sriram, Sr. Counsel for Mr.Dwarakesh Prabhakaran For Respondents : Mr.Sharath Chandran for Ms.Aditi Ashok

ORDER

This application has been filed by the third defendant in the suit seeking unconditional leave to defend the suit and also permit him to file written statement.

2.The suit has been filed as a summary suit seeking recovery of a sum of Rs.10,83,99,250/- together with interest at the rate of 12% per annum on Rs.8,56,00,000/- from 06.06.2022 till the date of realization.

The respondent Nos.1 to 4 are the plaintiffs in the suit.

3.The plaintiffs claim that they had lent money to Mr.Pramod V.Naik who was the Managing Director of the fourth defendant Company on various dates as disclosed in paragraph No.12 of the plaint for the benefit of the fourth defendant company. The plaintiffs claim that they came to know about Mr.Pramod V.Naik through the third plaintiff. According to the plaintiffs, when the said amount was lent to Mr.Pramod V.Naik, the fourth defendant company did not have any assets at that point of time and was reeling under financial crisis. According to the plaintiffs, Mr.Pramod V.Naik and the defendants 2 and 3 stood as personal guarantors and the 4th defendant stood as Corporate Guarantor for the due repayment of the loan by Mr.Pramod V.Naik. According to the plaintiffs, loans were given by the respective plaintiffs only to bailout the fourth defendant company from its precarious financial position. The plaintiffs have filed documents along with the plaint for the purpose of proving that the loan amounts have not been repaid by Mr.Pramod V.Naik, the borrower, who passed away on

03.03.2020.

4.According to the plaintiffs, Mr.Pramod V.Naik has not fulfilled any of the contractual obligations as per the loan agreements and personal guarantee executed by him. According to the plaintiffs, in terms of the loan agreements, during the period between September, 2019, and March, 2020, Mr.Pramod V.Naik paid only a portion of the interest accrued on each of the loans and has not paid any portion of the principal amount. According to the plaintiffs, the interest payable under the respective loan agreements is either 3% or 7.5%. The details of the loan documents and the amount of loan disbursed by each of the plaintiffs are disclosed in paragraph No.12 of the plaint. As seen from the same, promissory notes, loan agreement, corporate guarantee, personal guarantee, letter of general lien and set off have been executed by the respective defendants to secure the loan amounts repayable to the respective plaintiffs. The details of the same are set out hereunder:-