Judgment :- 1. On a grammatical construction what the exclusion in sub-clause (xi) of clause (c) of S.2 of Act 31 of 1958 "any debt exceeding one thousand five hundred rupees borrowed under a single transaction and due before the commencement of this Act to any banking company as defined in the Banking Companies Act, 1949." means is that at the time of the borrowing the debt must have exceeded one thousand five hundred rupees. This is in keeping also with the purpose of the exclusion, namely, to deny relief under the Act in respect of debts more in the nature of commercial transactions incurred by the richer agriculturists See Catholic Bank of India Ltd. v. Jacob (1967 KLT. 416. p. 422.) That the debt did not exceed one thousand five hundred rupees before the commencement of the Act, reading "before" as meaning, "immediately before" seems to be of no consequence. Here, on the appellant debtor's own showing, the amount borrowed by him exceeded one thousand five hundred rupees, and the borrowing was from a banking company under a single transaction. And the debt, though by then reduced to less than one thousand five hundred rupees, was admittedly due to the banking company at the commencement of the Act. The court below was therefore right in holding that the debt came within the exclusion 2. We dismiss this appeal with costs. A. K. A. Dismissed.