Mumbai: In the case of a woman’s shop being mortgaged allegedly using forged documents in 2002, the sessions court has exonerated Saraswat Cooperative Bank from prosecution, noting that it had no intention to cheat while granting credit facility to the accused.
About The Case
Kandivali resident Ila Thakkar had fallen prey to fraud in 2002. She claimed her husband had bought a shop in Kumkum Housing Cooperative Housing Society in 1979 and passed away in 1990. She was managing the affairs after his death but became indisposed, when the bank took possession of the shop even when she hadn’t taken any loan or stood as a guarantor for anyone.
In March 2004, one Samir Suresh Thakkar allegedly executed a fabricated promissory note regarding the shop without Ila Thakkar’s signature. Later, the bank took over the property, which she alleged was on the basis of a NOC given in December 1994 allegedly by the housing society, which was then just a proposed society. The bank through an arbitration proceeding obtained an award in its favour in November 2005. Ila Thakkar moved the high court in 2013 and got that award quashed. She then moved a written complaint in 2015 to Kandivali police station, which failed to take action.
In 2015, she filed a case against the bank and Samir Suresh Thakkar, Sunil Suresh Thakkar, and Surekha Suresh Thakkar for cheating and forgery. She claimed that the bank and its officials had granted a cash credit facility to the tune of Rs 11.50 lakh to M/s Sidh Enterprises, Samir’s proprietary concern, which was increased to Rs 55 lakh in June 2002, and then Rs 92 lakh the same year. Out of this, Rs 17 lakh was given to M/s Sidh Enterprises and Rs 75 lakh to another private limited company belonging to Samir Thakkar and others.
Court Takes Cognizance Of The Complainant
The court took cognizance of the complainant and issued proceedings against them. The bank, however, challenged the order before the sessions court. While hearing the bank’s plea, the court observed that if the applicant bank is directed to face trial as alleged in the complaint, it would affect its business without there being any fault on its part.
"There appears no intention in the entire complaint attributing the role of applicant bank in the alleged commission of the crime," sessions judge Nandkishor L More said.
The court observed that even if the bank has acted upon alleged forged and fabricated documents in granting a loan in favour of the accused, it is a matter of civil dispute that can be adjudicated by a civil court.
