Delhi District Court
Icici Bank Limited vs Anil Kumar Sharma on 23 February, 2024
ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma
DLCT010149542021
IN THE COURT OF SH. DEEPAK GARG,
DISTRICT JUDGE-COMMERCIAL COURT-09
(CENTRAL DISTRICT), TIS HAZARI COURTS, DELHI.
CIVIL SUIT (COMMERCIAL) NO.:- 4630/2021
IN THE MATTER OF :-
ICICI Bank Limited
Through its authorised Representative
Sh. Pankaj Jain
Having its Registered Office at
Near Chakli circle,
Old Padara Road,
Vadodaram, Gujarat 390007,
having its branch office at :
2nd Floor, Videocon Tower,
BlockE 3, Jhandewalan
New Delhi ... Plaintiff
VERSUS
Old address:
Anil Kumar Sharma
S/O Sh. Ramotar Sharma
R/O H.No. 433, Sewa Nagar Road,
Ghaziabad, UP 201001
New Address:
Anil Kumar Sharma,
S/O Sh. Ramotar Sharma
House No. 163, Shyodatt 5, Gulavathi,
Bulandshahar, UP 245408
Also at:
CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 1 of 9
ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma
C/O Honda Cars India Ltd.
Designation - Line Associate,
Emp ID LA/950
Plot No. 7, Sector 40/41,
Surajpur, Kasna Road,
Greater Noida (G.B. Nagar),
UP-201308
...Defendant
SUIT FOR RECOVERY OF RS.5,19,188/- ALONG WITH
INTEREST @24% P.A.
Date of institution : 08/11/2021
Date on which Judgment was reserved : 23/02/2024
Date of Judgment : 23/02/2024
::- EX PARTE J U D G M E N T -::
1.By way of present judgment, this court shall adjudicate upon this suit filed by the plaintiff against the defendant for recovery of Rs.5,19,188/- along with interest.
Case Of The Plaintiff As Per Plaint
2. Brief facts necessary for just adjudication of the present suit, as stated in the plaint, are as under:-
i. The plaintiff is banking company within the meaning of Banking Regulation Act with its registered office and branch office at the aforesaid addresses. ii. Sh. Pankaj Jain, who has been duly authorized by way of power of attorney and is competent to file, sign, verify, CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 2 of 9 ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma institute the present suit and follow up the legal proceedings on behalf of the plaintiff. iii. The defendant had approached to the plaintiff bank for availing the personal loan. On the representations of the plaintiff had sanctioned and disbursed loan of Rs.11,00,000/- under the Loan Account No. LPGHZ00036267402 on execution of various necessary documents and completion of formalities. The loan amount was disbursed to the defendant on 16/09/2017. iv. As per the terms & conditions of the loan, the defendant had agreed and was under the legal liability to repay the said loan amount of Rs.11,00,000/- in 60 equated monthly installments of Rs.23,868/- each, as per repayment schedule.
v. Inasmuch as the Statement of Account dated 07.09.2021 is concerned, the defendant has paid only 39 installments to the plaintiff bank and thereafter, he did not pay any installment amount to the plaintiff bank towards the EMI or the interest. As per statement of account dated 07.09.2021, 08 EMI are overdue and payable by him to the plaintiff bank.
vi. The plaintiff bank sent Legal Notice dated 03.05.2021, but despite the aforesaid Legal Demand Notice, the defendant did not pay and clear the outstanding dues of the plaintiff bank. After adjusting the entire payments made by the defendant, a sum of Rs.5,19,188/- is due and payable as on 07.09.2021, as total outstanding amount by the CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 3 of 9 ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma defendant to the plaintiff bank. Hence, the plaintiff has filed the present suit against the defendant.
Ex-Parte Proceedings
3. Summons for settlement of issues were issued to the defendant which were received back unserved from time to time. When the defendant could not be served in ordinary manner, it was directed to be served by way of publication in newspaper 'Rashtriya Sahara' and the publication took place in the said newspaper on 13.07.2022, but inspite of same the defendant failed to appear in the Court and so the defendant was proceeded exparte on 24.03.2023.
Substitution Of The Authorised Representative
4. Vide order dated 22/02/2024, the application of the plain- tiff for substitution of Authorised Representative was allowed and Sh. Jitender Mehndiratta was substituted in place of Sh. Pankaj Jain.
Plaintiff's Evidence
5. The plaintiff in order to prove its case has led plaintiff evi- dence and got examined Sh. Jitender Mehndiratta, AR of the plaintiff bank as PW-1. PW-1 has filed his evidence by way of affidavit, wherein he reiterated and reaffirmed the contents of the plaint. PW-1 in his testimony has relied upon the following doc- uments:-
CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 4 of 9ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma i. Photocopy of the Power of Attorney in my favour is Ex.PW-1/1 (OSR) ii. Photocopy of the Power of Attorney of previous AR Mark X. iii. Preliminary Credit Facility Application Form is Ex.PW- 1/2 iv. Credit Facility Application Form is ExPW1/3. v. Disbursement memo of loan is ExPW1/4. vi. Statement of Account dated 07/09/2021 is ExPW1/5 colly.
vii. Certificate under Section 65-B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1860 is Ex.PW-1/6 viii. Certificate under Section 2A of the Bankers Book of Evidence Act, 1891 is Ex. PW-1/7.
ix. Loan Recall notice dated 03/05/2021 is ExPW1/8 and its postal receipts are mark Y. Further it is stated that after the filing of this case, the defendant has paid an amount of Rs.14,468/- and the said amount be deducted from the amount claimed in the suit and he has filed statement of account dated 29/01/2024 in support of the same which is ExPW1/9.
6. This Court heard the ex-parte final arguments advanced by Ld. Counsel for the plaintiff. I have perused the material avail- able on record.
CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 5 of 9ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma Findings & Conclusions Of The Court
7. I have heard learned counsel for the plaintiff bank, perused the record carefully and give my thoughtful consideration to his submissions.
8. From the testimony of PW1 and the document relied upon by the plaintiff, it is established that the defendant had ap- proached the bank for personal Loan and submitted the pre- liminary Credit Facility Application Form (ExPW1/2) and Credit Facility Application Form is (ExPW1/3). After analysing the request of the defendant, plaintiff bank sanc- tioned the loan to the sum of Rs.11,00,000/- on 07.09.2021 to the defendant vide loan no. LPGHZ00036267402.
9. From the testimony of PW1, it is also clear that the above loan amount was repayable in 60 EMIs of Rs.23,868/- each but defendant paid only 39 installment and failed to pay the balance installments. Accordingly, the bank recalled the loan amount by sending the notice dated 03/05/2021 and same is Ex.PW1/8. But despite that the defendant failed to make the payment, accordingly, the bank sent the foreclosure notice of the loan account on 07.09.2021 and same is part of Statement of account dated 07.09.2021 Ex.PW1/5 colly.
10. As the PW1 has filed the requisite certificate Under Section 65B of the Evidence Act and under Section 2A of Bankers' Books Evidence Act and same are Ex.PW1/6 and Ex.PW1/7 respectively, the computerized statement of account CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 6 of 9 ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma dated 07.09.2021 Ex.PW1/5 colly and statement of account dated 23.02.2024 ExPW1/9 become admissible in evidence. The statement of account corroborates the testimony of PW1.
11. As per the foreclosure notice, bank claimed the following amount:-
Principal outstanding (Rs.) 4,64,689.00 Late payment penalty (Rs.) 19,257.00 Cheque bouncing charges and other 4,720.00 charges (Rs.) Interest for the month (Rs.) 2,401.00 Prepayment charges @4.72% on 27,416.65 outstanding principal (Rs.) Interest on pending installment (Rs.) 28,121.00 Cashback Amount (Rs.) 0.00 Refunds (Rs.) 0.00 Total amount payable (Rs.) 5,46,604.65
12. During arguments, learned counsel appearing for the plaintiff bank has submitted that while claiming the suit amount the prepayment charges of Rs. 27,416.65 /- were not claimed by the plaintiff bank.
13. Ld. Counsel for the plaintiff has argued that as per state-
ment of account ExPW1/9 out of the total payment of Rs.9,34,708/- made by the defendant, the principal was CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 7 of 9 ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma Rs.6,45,923/- and amount of Rs.2,88,785/- was in lieu of in- terest. He further argued that the plaintiff is entitled to other amount also under the heads of late payment penalty, cheque bouncing charges, interest for the month and interest on the pending installments.
14. The loan amount was Rs.11,00,000/- and hence after pay-
ment of principal amount of Rs.6,45,923/- in my view, the outstanding principal amount is {Rs.11,00,000 - Rs.6,45,923 }= Rs.4,54,077/-.
15. The plaintiff has also claimed an interest from the date of foreclosure along with further monthly rest interest thereon @ 24% per annum from the date of filing the suit till its realisa- tion. The court is of the considered opinion that the interest claimed @ 12% is on higher side and looking at the market condition and the prevailing rate of interest, interest of justice would be served if the plaintiff is granted interest @ 12% per annum filing of the suit, pendentelite and future till its realiza- tion.
RELIEF
16. In view of the above, I hereby pass :-
:-FINAL ORDER-:
An ex-parte money decree in the sum of Rs.4,54,077/- is passed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 8 of 9 ICICI Bank Ltd. vs. Anil Kumar Sharma with simple interest @ 12% per annum from filing of suit i.e. 08/11/2021 till the realization of the amount.
17. In view of the above, the suit is decreed with cost.
18. Decree sheet be prepared accordingly.
19. File be consigned to Record Room, after due com-
pliance. Digitally signed
by DEEPAK
DEEPAK GARG
GARG Date:
2024.02.23
16:40:10 +0530
Announced in the open Court on (Deepak Garg)
rd
this 23 day of Feb., 2024 Distt. Judge, (Comm. Court)-09, Central District, THC : Delhi CS (COMM)No. 4630/21 Page 9 of 9