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Banks can publish photos of wilful defaulters 

By refusing to interfere with the the judgement and order  dated 28/11/2013 in WPL No.2808/2013 of The HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY, the Hon'ble Supreme Court Vide order dated 14/7/14 in the SLP(C) NO. 37726 of 2013 has allowed the decision of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court in the matter of D.J. Exim vs SBI,  wherein the Hon'ble Bomaby HC allowed photographs of defaulters to be publish subject to certain conditions.


Bombay High Court on 28/11/2013 refused to stop publication of photographs of a defaulter firm in newspapers, saying that it was in larger public interest.

The division bench of Justices V M Kanade and M S Sonak refused to grant relief to the firm D J Exim and its directors






State Bank of India, on October 10, had issued the firm a letter warning that if it did not repay loan amount, photographs of the directors would be published in national newspapers.

The company moved the High Court against this saying no rule permits banks to publish photos.

"They cannot embarrass the defaulters like this. According to the rule only name and address can be published," the firm's lawyers argued.

However SBI counsel Aspi Chinoy pointed out that the company had defaulted on repayment of Rs 53 crores.

"This is not disputed. They are admitted defaulters. We are only stating this fact to the public," he argued, and said the bank "does not resort to such stringent measures" in each and every case.

Accepting this argument, High Court observed that publishing of photographs serves the purpose of creating awareness and cautioning prospective clients.

"In our view, there would be no impediment to publication of photos of the defaulters. There is no legal bar which expressly prohibits the bank from publishing photos.

"However, the decision to resort to such measures should be taken by a very senior level official not below the rank of General Manager of the bank. In this case, due process was followed and the decision cannot be faulted," the court said.

In the past, while the Bombay, Madras and Madhya Pradesh HCs had allowed banks to publish the names and photographs of defaulters, the Calcutta and Kerala HCs held such moves as unconstitutional and impermissible in law while ruling on some cases.






Articles referred: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/name-shame-banks-can-publish-photos-of-wilful-defaulters-says-sc/1270658






Article referred: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-11-28/news/44547088_1_defaulter-newspapers-high-court
















































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