The order was passed on a complaint filed in the court by Shrijiv Bhattacharya, an advertising consultant. According to the complaint, some representatives of the bank contacted Bhattacharya in 1994 and requested him to apply for a credit card. After Bhattacharya had complied with all the formalities and after the bank was satisfied with his credit-worthiness, he was issued a gold credit card.

Bhattacharya said that after using the credit card for some period and making payments to the bank from time to time, the bank failed, and neglected, to furnish accurate accounts in respect of the credit card. Bhattacharya further stated that no statement of accounts was furnished by the bank despite repeated requests made by him.

According to Bhattacharya, on November 5, 1998at around 3.30 pm, seven to eight persons entered his office in his absence without any prior appointment and began threatening the staffers. On making inquiries, the staff members were told that they were recovery agents of Standard Chartered Bank and were working under the name `Rumours Financial Consultants.' They said their office was at Kalbadevi.

The complaint further stated that the persons were very rude to the staff members and used abusive language. One of the staff members was even assaulted, the complaint added. The intruders also demanded to know the whereabouts of Bhattacharya and told the staff members that they had to recover Rs 53,000 from him. They also told the staff members that if Bhattacharya failed to pay the amount in two days, he would be beated up by them.

Bhttacharya's lawyer Ajit Jakhadi told the court that a notice as well as a letter was sent to the country head of the bank, but there was no reply to either.

Counsel for the bank, Anita Trivedi, admitted that the persons whowent to Bhattacharya's office went on behalf of the bank. She, however, denied that any arm-twisting tactics were used by the recovery agents. She said that only three persons visited Bhattacharya, and the purpose of their visit was to verify the address furnished by Bhattacharya, as he was not available at the address given by him to the bank. After making inquiries, the agents managed to obtain Bhattacharya's new address and accordingly visited him.

Apart from passing the injunction order against the bank, the judge also directed Bhattacharya to pay the amount due to the bank.

Of late, numerous complaints have been lodged against banks and other financial institutions for employing recovery agents who use strong-arm tactics to get back dues. These agents are known to act as `extortion specialists' who use fear and intimidation to ensure that their clients recover their money.