Skip to main content

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
















































Comments











Post a Comment



















Most viewed this month



















The recovery of vehicles by the financier not an offence - SC




























  Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 8907  of 2009   Anup Sarmah (Petitioner) Vs Bhola Nath Sharma & Ors.(Respondents)      The petitioner submitted that  respondents-financer had forcibly taken away the vehicle financed by them and  illegally deprived the petitioner from its lawful possession  and  thus,  committed  a crime. The complaint filed by the petitioner had been  entertained  by  the Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class), Gauhati (Assam) in Complaint Case  No.  608 of 2009, even directing the interim custody of the vehicle (Maruti  Zen)  be given to the petitioner vide order dated  17.3.2009.  The respondent on approaching the Guwahati High  Court against this order, the hon'ble court squashed the criminal  proceedings  pending   before  the  learned Magistrate.     After hearing both sides, the Hon'ble Supreme Court decided on 30th...




















7 comments









Read more




























Owner of vehicle is not expected to verify the genuineness of the driving license before appointing a driver




























Cause Title : Rishi Pal Singh Versus New India Assurance Co. Ltd & Ors., Civil Appeal No. 4919 Of 2022, The Supreme Court Of India Date of Judgment/Order : July 26, 2022 Corum : Hemant Gupta; J., Vikram Nath; J. Background the truck owned by the appellant met with an accident. The owner deposed before the court that before employing the driver, he had taken his driving test and that he was driving the vehicle satisfactorily and  that the driver was employed with him for 3 years before the date of the accident. He produced his driving license. This was reaffirmed by the driver who deposed that the driving license was obtained from the driver and it was issued from Nagaland, but no such license was produced on record. Both the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal and the High Court have held that the owner has alleged that the driver had a driving license from Nagaland but the same was not produced and therefore, the Insurance Company is entitled to recover the awarded amount...




















Post a Comment









Read more




























Person Being Prosecuted To Be Provided With All Relevant Documents




























The Delhi High Court, in the case of Poonam Jain vs Union of India & Ors, noted that a person being prosecuted against has a right to be provided with all the material relied upon by the prosecuting agency to prosecute her/ him.   In the instant case, a search was conducted at the residences of the petitioners and their statements were recorded and several documents were seized.   They were issued show cause notices under Section 276 C(1) and Section 277 of the Income Tax Act, Section 181 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 50 and 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act.   They sought to be provided with a copy of their statements and the documents seised.   However, the same was denied to them.




















Post a Comment









Read more