IN THE HIGH COURT FOR PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. -.- RSA NO. 1258 of 1985 Date of Decision:- 17.11.2010 -.- Messrs Paragaon Utility Financiers (P) Limited. ...Appellant. Versus Messrs Sirabha Land & Motor Finance P Limited. ...Respondent -.- CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER -.- Present:- Mr. G.S.Punia, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr.Harit Sharma, Advocate, for the respondent. -.- Mahesh Grover, J. (Oral) This is a defendant's appeal directed against the judgment of the First Appellate Court dated 22.11.1984. The plaintiff-respondent filed a suit for recovery of an amount of Rs. 96,564.63 on the premise that the defendant-appellant is a Private Limited Company and had received advances by way of deposits carrying interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum from the plaintiff-respondent. During the course of existence of the deposits, tax was also deducted at source and the accounts were tallied & pre-audited. The plaintiff-respondent, thus, claimed that after making the necessary adjustment in accounts, the appellant was entitled to pay Rs.96,564.63, which became the basis of claim in the suit. The appellant denied the liability to pay the amount and pleaded that one Sadhu Singh, Director and Chairman of the plaintiff- - 2 - RSA NO. 1258 of 1985 company acted in connivance with Mohinder Singh and B.D.Sharma, who were their employees, and forged the documents to create the aforesaid liability. They, thus denied their liability to pay the said amount. The parties went to trial on the following issues:- 1.Whether the plaintiff is a private limited company duly incorporated under the CompaniesAct, 1956? OPP 2. Whether Sadhu Singh is the duly authorised person to file the present suit on behalf of the plaintiff?OPP 3. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to the amount claimed for?OPP 4. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to the recovery of interest? If so, at what rate? OPP 5. Whether Sadhu Singh has manufactured any writing with the connivance of Mohinder Singh and B.D.Sharma, employees of the defendant to injure the defendant as alleged, if so, to what effect? OPP 6. Relief. Upon appraisal of the evidence produced by the respective parties the trial Court dismissed the suit. However, in appeal, the findings were reversed and the appellant was held entitled to pay the amount claimed by the plaintiff-respondent. Aggrieved by the aforesaid, this second appeal has been filed. Learned counsel for the appellant-defendant has contended that there is a complete misreading of the evidence and the findings recorded by the first Appellate Court are perverse. On the other hand, counsel for the - 3 - RSA NO. 1258 of 1985 plaintiff-respondent has sought to contend that in the judgment rendered by the First Appellate Court, the matter has been properly appreciated and from the findings returned by the First Appellate Court no substantial question of law arises and as such no interference is called for. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the impugned judgments. The plaintiff-respondent filed a suit for recovery on the basis of the accounts which were maintained by the respective parties and audited. The defence taken by the appellant was that the documents were forged and fabricated and were prepared in connivance with two of their employees, namely, Mohinder Singh and B.D.Sharma. Once the plea of forgery had been set up by the appellant, it was for him to prove this fact by leading cogent evidence. Taking a definite plea that two of their employees were in league with the plaintiff, no material, worth-the-name, has been brought on record to nullify the effect of the statement of accounts produced by the plaintiff-respondent. In the opinion of this Court, therefore, the appellant has failed to substantiate his case. It has also failed to bring out any substantial question of law which may warrant any interference by this Court in the regular second appeal. The controversy, at best, involves mere appreciation of facts. No ground to interfere. Dismissed. (Mahesh Grover) (Judge) November 17, 2010. Saini