1 C.W.P. No. 2383 of 2010 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH --- Civil Writ Petition No. 2383 of 2010 Date of Decision: March 16, 2010 M/s. V.S. Enterprises through its Proprietor and others --- Petitioners Versus Punjab National Bank, Chandigarh --- Respondent CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL *** PRESENT: Mr. Aalok Jagga, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. B.S. Bhatia, Advocate for the respondent. --- AJAY KUMAR MITTAL, J. In this petition filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have, inter alia, prayed for issuance of a writ of mandamus, directing the respondent to allow them to sell off the assets owned by them which are mortgaged with the respondent-bank, so as to enable them to enter into a Tripartite Agreement and clear off the outstanding dues claimed by the respondent-bank, in terms of the directions issued by this Court in Civil Writ Petition Nos. 2411 and 3045 of 2009, decided on 17.3.2009 and 30.3.2009, (Annexures P-7 and P-8) respectively. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that in case the petitioners are granted time by this Court till 15.4.2010, they will make sincere efforts to find out a suitable buyer for selling 2 C.W.P. No. 2383 of 2010 off their assets and entering into a tripartite agreement amongst them, i.e. the petitioners, the prospective buyer and the respondent- bank. The counsel further stated that the petitioners shall find out the prospective buyer whose offer would not be less than the reserved price of the assets fixed by the respondent-bank, i.e. an amount of Rs. 5.5 crores. It was also pointed out by the learned counsel that in case the petitioners fail to adhere to the aforesaid arrangement, in that eventuality, the writ petition may be deemed to be dismissed and it will then be open to the respondent-bank to proceed against the petitioners in accordance with law. Learned counsel made a reference to orders, Annexures P-7 and P-8, passed by this Court in writ petitions where in similar circumstances, permission had been granted to the borrowers to search for the prospective buyers to sell off their assets so as to enter into a tripartite agreement. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, in particular, having regard to the interest of justice, the writ petition is disposed of by granting the petitioners time up to 15th of April 2010 to search for a prospective buyer, on the terms and for the purposes enumerated aforesaid and the failure on their part to adhere to the above arrangement, will cost them with the dismissal of the writ petition and the further action at the hands of the respondent-bank in accordance with law. (AJAY KUMAR MITTAL) March 16, 2010 JUDGE *RKMALIK*