Service means, service of the notice on the defendants along with copy of the O.A. and all the documents, upon which the Bank is relying. A mere receipt of notice/summons or publication in the newspaper, cannot be said to be complete service. – M/s Siddhi Vinayak Industries & Others Vs. IDIBI Bank – DRAT Allahabad Bench
March 8, 2021
There is no dispute on the point that as per provision of section 19(5)(i) of the RDB Act, 1993, the defendants are required to file written statement within 30 days from the date of service and the period can be extended for further 15 days by the Tribunal recording special reasons. This provision has been held to be mandatory by the Hon’ble Madhya Pradesh High Court in W.P. No. 2271/2018 - M/s Crest Steel and Power Private Limited Vs. Punjab National Bank, decided on 10.05.2018. However, the term “service” of the summons cannot be restricted to a limited purpose. Service means, service of the notice on the defendants along with copy of the O.A. and all the documents, upon which the Bank is relying. A mere receipt of notice/summons or publication in the newspaper, cannot be said to be complete service. The written statement can only be prepared on the basis of the contents of the O.A. and the documents furnished by the Bank. If it is proved that the notice is served with all the relevant documents on a particular date, the period of 30 days starts from that date.
