High court helps orphaned Mohali siblings save their home
The 19-year-old boy, currently pursuing a BA, and his 16-year-old sister, a Class 10 student, had approached the court in May, desperate to stop the bank from taking possession of their flat — the only roof over their heads — over a loan default.
Their father had taken a ₹20.31-lakh loan to purchase a flat for their family in a Mohali society. However, he had insured the loan only until 2022 and not for the entire repayment period.
Suffering from a prolonged illness, their father passed away in March 2023 at PGIMER, Chandigarh, after a sizeable spending on his treatment.
Their mother also died in September 2024, leaving the siblings orphaned and facing the unpaid home loan debt.
Due to non-payment of instalments since their father's illness in 2022, the outstanding loan amount had shot up to ₹24.62 lakh due to which the bank was about to take possession of their flat.
In their plea before the high court, the siblings shared that the family had been paying instalments regularly until their father's health crisis and proved this with bank records.
Moved by their circumstances, justice Anupinder Singh Grewal facilitated a settlement — with the bank agreeing to close the case at ₹10 lakh in view of the 'exceptional circumstances'.
The court went a step further, asking the bank to consider supporting the siblings' education. The bank's counsel agreed to examine it under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy.
'We expect respondent number 4 (the bank) to favourably consider the proposal for covering the educational expenses of the petitioners,' the bench said.
Additionally, the court directed the Punjab government to consider the siblings' request for financial aid 'sympathetically' under social welfare schemes, if they apply.
During proceedings, the siblings also sought time to arrange the ₹10 lakh settlement amount, which they hope to raise through contributions from Good Samaritans. The court allowed this and gave them until June 30, 2025, to make the payment.
'...the petition is disposed of with a direction that in the event of the petitioners paying a sum of ₹10 lakh by June 30, 2025, their loan account be settled and the title deed of the secured asset be released to the petitioners,' the court ordered.
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