IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANTONY DOMINIC FRIDAY, THE 23RD SEPTEMBER 2011 / 1ST ASWINA 1933 WP(C).No. 17912 of 2011(L) -------------------------- PETITIONER ------------------ DEVARAJAN.V.K,S/O.KESAVAN,VARIKKOLIL HOUSE,VENPALA.P.O,VENPALA MURI,KUTTOOR VILLAGE. BY ADVS. SRI.RASHEED C.NOORANAD SMT.V.SREEJA RESPONDENT: --------------------- 1. STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE REPRESENTED BY ITS GENERAL MANAGER,HEAD OFFICE,POOJAPPURA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695001. 2. CHIEF MANAGER (ADV.) STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE, REGION IV,ZONAL OFFICE, KOTTAYAM-686001. 3. THE BRANCH MANAGER, STATE BANK OF TRAVANCORE,KUTTAPUZHA BRANCH,THIRUVALLA-689101. BY ADV. SRI.K.S.DILIP , SC SBT THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 23/09/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: WP(C).No. 17912 of 2011(L) -------------------------------------- APPENDIX --------------- PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS ------------------------------------ EXT.P1. COPY OF THE RECEIPT DTD. 23.02.2010 EXT.P2. COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DTD. 19.08.2O09 EXT.P3. COPY OF THE LETTER DTD. 04.11.2009. RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS : NIL ----------------------------------- / TRUE CPY / P.A. TO JUDGE VK ANTONY DOMINIC, J. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` W.P.(C) No. 17912 of 2011 L ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Dated this the 23rd day of September, 2011 J U D G M E N T ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Petitioner is a Senior Telecom Office Assistant at BSNL office, Thiruvalla. Petitioner states that he had pledged 65.35 grams of gold ornaments with the third respondent and availed of a loan of an amount of `71,500/-. It is stated that, when he approached the third respondent to settle the loan account, the third respondent informed him that until the petitioner and his wife clear the other liabilities with the bank, the gold offered as security will not be released to him. It is thereupon the writ petition has been filed, seeking a direction to the respondents to permit the petitioner to pay the amount due under the gold loan account and to return the ornaments pledged by him. 2. On the directions of this Court, a statement has been filed by the respondents, indicating that the petitioner W.P.(C) No.17912/2011 : 2 : and his wife have availed of five loans, the details of which are as follows:- Sl. No. Name of Branch & Name of Borrower Nature of Facility Amount due as on 30/09/2011 1 Thiruvalla Vasundara V.V. Demand Loan (Sahaya Varsha) Rs.83,823.00 2 Thirumoolapuram Vasundara V.V. Demand Loan (Sahaya Varsha) Rs.1,41,522.00 3 Kuttapuzha Devaraja M.K. Demand Loan (Sahaya Varsha) Rs.95,044.00 4 Kuttapuzha Devarajan M.K. MTL - Two Wheeler Rs.37,513.00 5 Kuttapuzha Devarajan M.K. MTL - Gold Loan Rs.80,220.00 Total Rs.4,38,122.00 This statement shows that including that of the gold loan, the total liability due from the petitioner is `4,38,122/-. It is stated that, since the petitioner and his wife owe amounts towards other loans, the Bank is exercising its right of general lien over the security in question. 3. In my view, although a banker is entitled to exercise the right of general lien, the question of exercising such right arises only in the event of at least a remote W.P.(C) No.17912/2011 : 3 : possibility of the security furnished by the loanee towards the other loans are insufficient to discharge those liabilities. In this case, excluding the gold loan, the total liability due from the petitioner and his wife is that of `3,57,902/- and the securities offered for those loans have been valued by the Bank itself at `5,72,000/-. From these figures, it is evident that the immovable properties offered by the petitioner and his wife itself are sufficient for the bank to recoup its dues, in the event any default is committed by the loanee. Therefore, there is no scope for exercising the general right of lien in this case. In such circumstances, I am of the view that the stand taken by the respondents in refusing to release the gold ornaments pledged by the petitioner is unreasonable and illegal. In that view of the matter, I dispose of the writ petition, directing that on the petitioner paying the amounts due under the gold loan availed of by him, the third respondent shall W.P.(C) No.17912/2011 : 4 : forthwith release the gold ornaments pledged by the petitioner. Sd/- (ANTONY DOMINIC, JUDGE) aks/23/09 // True Copy // P.A. To Judge