Money not paid by the relatives

Dear SIR, I have loaned money to one of my far linked family member for building his house and marring his daughter. Since he did not have his account, for his money transaction he opened account for his daughter whose marriage was due to take place. I was staying in mumbai and had to make transaction through Punjab National bank from there and as well as from Mumbai. Total money was given to him through cash deposit and rtgs through the same bank and bank of Baroda starting from 2012 some part and then three or four time till 2014 December. They have returned some part of it but hardly 20%. Advocate says the continuty exist in this case and I have deposited the court fee and filed recovery suit. Please give your opinion and advise.

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The initial advice would be to ask your relative for the amount without initiating a legal recourse, as the legal mode is quit a hassle. It will take around 2-4 years.

Serve him a legal notice, stating all the facts and how much he owes you along with the interest, as the defaulter should be aware the grounds on which a case is being filed against him. This should include information concerning the debt, for instance, how the debt was incurred, the original amount of the debt, when the last payment was made, and the current amount that is due to be paid back. Give him a particular date to pay back the amount. If that passes, you can now initiate a Recovery suit as under Order 37 of CPC.

Please remember that the limitation period for initiating a recovery suit is 3 years. So if you want to take the legal course of action, please initiate it at the earliest, before you are barred by law. You can initiate your case at:

  • Suits amounting to Rs.1 – Rs.20, 00,000/- lie before District Courts.
  • Suits over and above Rs. 20,00,000/- lie before the High Court.

Once the suit is instituted and the summons are issued, the defendant has 10 days to make an appearance, failing which the court assumes the plaintiff 's allegations to be true and, accordingly, awards the plaintiff.

You can also initiate a criminal proceeding. You can either file a case of criminal breach of trust or cheating, or even mischief as under section 406, 417 & 426 on Indian Penal Code 1860 respectively. However, criminal proceedings usually take a long time to conclude. So you may end up wasting valuable time and effort in court to recover your dues

In the case of Precision Steel & Engg. Works vs Prem Deva Niranjan Deva Tayal, the court said that mere disclosure of facts, not a substantial defence is the sine qua non. So be sure that you have all the relevant documents to support your case.

Answered on February 28, 2017.
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