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2022 (12) TMI 1196 - HC - Money LaunderingSeeking return of amount given to plaintiff - Defendant contested the plaintiff's claim by filing his written statement submitting inter alia that he was never in need of money and has never taken any amount from plaintiff and had not executed any promissory note in his favour - claim barred by virtue of Section 269SS of the Income Tax Act and is also barred by the provisions of the Money Lending Act or not - HELD THAT:- It is a solitary instance of advancement of loan by plaintiff to the defendant for which no license under the Money Lending Act was required by plaintiff. There is no evidence adduced by defendant to show that plaintiff is in the business of money lending and had advanced similar loans to different persons hence his contention that plaintiff was required to be registered under the Money Lending Act is without any merit. Likewise it was not mandatory for plaintiff to have advanced the sum to the defendant by way of cheque alone and it cannot be said that he could not have done the same by way of cash. The provisions of Section 269SS of the Income Tax Act are not applicable to the present facts. In any case, the defendant upon receiving loan amount from plaintiff cannot take shelter of such a hyper technicality. A perusal of proceedings of the trial Court shows that the defendant ever since the very inception had been totally negligent in prosecution of his case and had been taking repeated adjournments firstly for filing of the written statement and thereafter for cross-examining plaintiff's witnesses. His right to cross-examine plaintiff's witnesses was eventually closed by the trial Court on 21.06.2018 observing that last opportunity on imposition of costs had already been granted to him earlier hence no further opportunity can be granted to him. It cannot be said that the trial Court has committed any illegality in closing the right of defendant to cross-examine plaintiff's witnesses. There are no illegality committed by the Courts below in decreeing the claim of plaintiff. The findings arrived at by them are based upon due appreciation of the oral as well as the documentary evidence available on record and no error or perversity in the same is found. The findings being findings of facts are not liable to be interfered with at the second appellate stage - appeal dismissed.
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