TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (7) TMI 1547
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....mpany informing it of a One Time Settlement ("OTS") scheme of NPAs and offered to settle the total outstanding amount i.e., Rs. 7,15,72,836/- for Rs. 2,29,51,380.10/-. The said proposal was discussed by the board of Petitioner-company in its meeting held on 10th November, 2020 and the acceptance was conveyed to SBI on 11th November, 2020. 4. Thereafter, SBI issued a letter dated 24th November, 2020 [hereinafter, "sanction letter"], setting-out the terms of the OTS. Since the controversy revolves around the construction of the said terms, for quick reference, the same are reproduced hereinbelow: "Scheme for One Time Settlement of NPAs & AUCAs (Sill OTS 2020) We refer to your letter no. NIL dated 11.11.2020 for settlement of your dues to the Bank under the captioned scheme. We are pleased to advise that your application under the captioned scheme has been accepted by the appropriate authority. 1 OTS amount payable under the OTS Scheme will be Rs. 2,29,51,380,10 Only. 2. Application money of Rs. 11,47,570.00 paid by you will be appropriated towards your OTS amount. 3. Another 10% of the OTS Amount will have to be deposited by you as first instalment within thirty days f....
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....7919) 22,95,138.00 CHQ TRANSFER - 125823 RTGS-SBIN-STATE BANK OF I- ALLA202101225014809430 23-02-2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/ C NO.50501227919) 22,95,138.00 CHQ TRANSFE-STATE BANK OF INlDIBR52021022322346212 20-03-2021 BANK.- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/ C NO.50501227919) 22,95, 138.00 CHQ TRANSFE-STATE BANK OF INIDIBR5202 1032022770607 20-04-2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/ C NO.50501227919) 21,95, 138.00 CHQ TRANSFE-STATE BANK OF INIDIBR5202 1042023227515 21-04- 2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/ C NO.50501227919) 1,00,000.00 CHQ TRANSFE-STATE BANK OFINIDIBH2 1111363589 13-05- 2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/C NO.50501227919) 22,95,138.00 CHQ 00785794 TRANSFESTATE BANK OF INDIA 17-06- 2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/C NO.50501227919) 22,95,138.00 TRANSFER STATE BANK OF IN/ IDIBH21168377334/NEFT/SBIN TRANSFER TO 89634064780 19-07- 2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK (A/ C NO.50501227919) 22,95,138.00 CHQ TRANSFERTGS/ SBIN STATE BANK OF IN/ IDIBR5202 1071924208554 23-07- 2021 BANK- ALLAHABAD BANK LA/c NO.50501227919) 40,13,586.00 CHQ NO. 785863 Total (Rupees) 11.00 7. Since the afore-noted payments were made in eight months, condition no. 5 became applicable and....
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....d to be 27th July, 2021, and thus, it is evident that the terms of sanction letter have not been satisfied. In such circumstances, Petitioner-company is not entitled to the reliefs sought for in the present petition. 11. Having considered the afore-noted contentions, in the opinion of the Court, the present petition deserves to be allowed for the reasons discussed hereinafter. 12. The dispute between the parties surrounds the construction of the terms of the sanction letter. It cannot be disputed that the amounts which fell due under sanction letter, stand paid. Controversy has arisen because the last payment made by Petitioner-company by way of a negotiable instrument (a cheque) on 23rd July, 2021 i.e. the last date of the validity period, stood credited into the account of SBI only on 27th July 2021. For the sake of clarity, it would be apposite to extract condition no. 5, which reads as under: "5. The balance amount can he paid within 8 months from the date of this letter, i.e. 24/11/2020 (the validity period) together with interest @ 6 Months MCLR on reducing balance basis effective from the date of this letter, i.e. 24.11.2020 failing which the OTS sanction will be rendere....
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....uch averment in the counter affidavit. Further, a glaring fact that emerges in the instant case is that after deposit of the cheque, Petitioner-company followed up by sending an e-mail communication to the bank on 26th July, 2021, which reads as under: "From: Milan Aggarwal Sent: 26/07/2021 6:55 PM To: SAR Retail North - New Delhi-I - SBI 5169 [email protected] Cc: Manish Aggarwal [email protected]; SANJAY JHA [email protected] Subject: RE: OTS sanctioned letter dated 24.11.2020 Dear Sir We would like to update you about the OTS sanction provided to us on 24/11/2020 after the proposal was accepted by us and upfront paid for in November 2020. We have paid the entire amount as per the OTS guidelines/ Sanction and proposal letter exactly. The last EMI amount has been paid on 23/07/2021 by way of cheque payment after having received the pending principal plus interest amount. We were informed the Principal amount 34,42,705/- and the interest amount of 5,70,881.48/- We have provided the cheque no. 785863 on 23/072021. With this, we have honoured out OTS sanctioned to us in all aspects You are requested to acknowledge this and provide the NOC acco....