India News | Gujarat HC Says 'unnecessary Hype' Given for SBI Crop Loan Issue Involving Dues of 31 Paise

Ahmedabad, May 5 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court has observed that "unnecessary hype is given due to You Tube for nothing" in a case related to State Bank of India (SBI) withholding the no-dues certificate with respect to a crop loan for non-payment of just 31 paise.

The matter pertains to seven individuals borrowing about Rs 3 lakh as loan from the bank and a land parcel was given as the collateral.

Also Read | 45% People Who Died in 2020 Didn’t Receive Any Medical Care, Says Govt Data.

Later, these borrowers sold the land parcel, on which the bank had charge, to two other individuals. However, the revenue authorities declined to give approval to the buyers for the land mutation application citing absence of no-dues certificate from the bank regarding the loan. The land parcel is in Ahmedabad district.

Subsequently, the buyers moved the court on the issue.

Also Read | Honda City Hybrid e:HEV Launched in India at Rs 19.49 Lakh.

The matter of the lender withholding the no-dues certificate for not paying just 31 paise also became a topic of discussion on the social media recently.

Against this backdrop, the court, while hearing the petition filed by the buyers, observed that "unnecessary hype is given due to You Tube for nothing".

"Whatever it may be, you could have issued the no-dues certificate in the name of the borrowers...," Justice Bhargav D Karia said in a recent order.

SBI had submitted before the court that it could not issue the no-dues certificate due to letters received from the borrowers asking the lender not to issue or accept dues from anyone to clear the debt unless such requests were made by them. Such letters were sent by the borrowers to the bank in 2019 and 2020.

In the affidavit, SBI also said there was a "confusion" that had led to the non-issuance of the no-dues certificate to the original borrowers.

The bank also informed the court on May 2 that it issued the no-dues certificate on April 28 to the borrowers in connection with the land deal. The no-dues certificate was issued on the direction of the court.

Following SBI's submission on May 2, the court said, "the petition stands disposed of as withdrawn. Notice is discharged."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)