State Bank of India Vs Jayaram Soni (DRAT Kolkata)
The appeal arises from the order dated 12 October 2022 passed by the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Jaipur, in Miscellaneous Application (M.A.) No. 70/2022, in which the DRT directed the appellant bank to update the credit information of the applicants with the CIBIL bureau. The appellant, State Bank of India, challenged this order before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT), Chennai.
Subsequently, M.A. No. 70/2022 was filed by Jayaram Soni and Priyanka Soni, former directors and co-guarantors, seeking to remove the reference to their liability from CIBIL records. They argued that they had resigned from the company directorship on 9 May 2014 and had transferred their properties through registered gift deeds, which had been communicated to the bank. Since the borrowers settled the loan, the applicants contended they had no remaining liability and, therefore, their CIBIL records should be updated to reflect that they were no longer guarantors.
The bank opposed the M.A., challenging its maintainability. It argued that since the O.A. had been withdrawn after full repayment, the M.A. could not be entertained, and the original documents had already been returned. The DRT, however, held that the applicants were not parties to the settlement between the bank and the borrowers, had resigned as directors, and had transferred their properties, and thus directed the bank to update the applicants’ CIBIL records accordingly.
