ORDER : K.R. SHRIRAM, C.J. Petitioner is National Textile Corporation, formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956. Petitioner came into being by virtue of the provisions of The Sick Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Act, 1974 (in short 'the Act'). 2. There was a time when many textile undertakings were declared sick and the said Act was enacted to provide for the acquisition and transfer of the sick textile undertakings and the right, title and interest of the owners in respect of the sick textile undertakings specified in First Schedule of the Act. This was made with a view to re-organising and rehabilitating such sick textile undertakings so as to subserve the interests of the general public by the augmentation of the production and distribution, at fair prices, of different varieties of cloth and yarn, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 3. One such sick industrial unit was Anantapur Cotton Mills Ltd., which had taken a loan from the erstwhile Syndicate Bank. Syndicate bank has since merged with Canara Bank. Counsel for petitioner seeks leave to amend the cause-title. Leave granted. Amendment be carried out within a week of this order being uploaded. 4. The bank had filed a Original Suit No.1022 of 1988 before the Subordinate Judge at Coimbatore to recover a sum of Rs.36,50,917.66 from the borrower, that is Anantapur Cotton Mills. There were other facilities also granted apart from loan and as the textile mill defaulted, the original suit came to be filed. In the suit, petitioner was also arrayed as 12th defendant, who contested the suit on the question of territorial jurisdiction among other grounds. The suit was thereafter transferred to Debts Recovery Tribunal at Chennai and numbered as TA-14/1998 and it was re-numbered as TA-487/2001 at Debts Recovery Tribunal-II, Chennai. Upon creation of Debts Recovery Tribunal at Coimbatore, the O.S. was transferred to Debts Recovery Tribunal, Coimbatore and was re-numbered as TA-1437/ 2002. The Debts Recovery Tribunal, Coimbatore, by an order dated 03.12.2003, allowed the claim of the bank holding that the defendants are liable to pay the bank a sum of Rs.36,50,917.66 with interest at 18.5% per annum from the date of suit till the date of realisation. 5. Petitioner challenged the said order in an appeal before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal at Chennai, which disposed the appeal by the impugned order dated 11.08.2005, affirming the order of Debts Recovery Tribunal. 6. 5. Petitioner challenged the said order in an appeal before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal at Chennai, which disposed the appeal by the impugned order dated 11.08.2005, affirming the order of Debts Recovery Tribunal. 6. The stand taken by petitioner before the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal was that no amount was payable to the bank after 01.04.1974, the date on which the said Act came into force, which was also the appointed day. According to petitioner, under Section 5(1) of the Act, every liability in respect of any period prior to the appointed day shall be the liability of the owner and shall be enforceable against the owner and not against the Central Government or the National Textile Corporation. The owner as per the definition under the Act, petitioner submits, means any person or firm who or which is, immediately before the appointed day, the immediate proprietor or lessee or occupier of the sick textile undertaking or any part thereof, and in the case of a textile company which is being wound up or the business whereof is being carried on by a liquidator or receiver, includes such liquidator or receiver, and also includes any agent or manager or such owner and certainly it does not include petitioner. 7. It was also submitted that the only exception to sub-section (1) of Section 5 would be the liability that is specified in sub-section (2), of the owner of a sick textile undertaking and under sub-section (2), only such liabilities arising in respect of loans advanced by the Central Government or State Government or both or amounts advanced to a sick textile undertaking by the National Textile Corporation or by a State Textile Corporation or wages, salaries and other dues of employees, etc., are covered. Since the bank's claim is for loan/other facilities given to the company that was taken over under the said Act, the same cannot be claimed from petitioner. These are the submissions made by Sri.Sivakumar even before us today. 8. The bank's submission which was reiterated by Sri.Sreenivasulu was that under Section 30 of the said Act, petitioner was bound to ratify the contract which had been entered into by the sick textile unit with the bank which petitioner omitted to ratify and hence, the claim of the bank cannot be defeated. 8. The bank's submission which was reiterated by Sri.Sreenivasulu was that under Section 30 of the said Act, petitioner was bound to ratify the contract which had been entered into by the sick textile unit with the bank which petitioner omitted to ratify and hence, the claim of the bank cannot be defeated. Reliance was placed on the proviso to Section 30 and it was submitted that the National Textile Corporation was duty bound to ratify a contract and it was also not permitted to alter or modify a contract unless such a contract was unduly onerous or has been entered into in bad faith or is detrimental to the interests of the sick textile undertaking.Counsel submitted that that was not even the case of petitioner. 9. It will be useful to reproduce Sections 2(1)(h), 3, 4(1), 4(2), 4(5), 5(1), 5(2) and 30 of the Act, which read as under: " 2.Definitions. - (1) ... (h) "owner", when used in relation to a sick textile undertaking, means any person or firm who or which is, immediately before the appointed day, the immediate proprietor or lessee or occupier of the sick textile undertaking or any part thereof, and in the case of a textile company which is being wound up or the business whereof is being carried on by a liquidator or receiver, includes such liquidator or receiver, and also includes any agent or manager or such owner but does not include any person or body of persons authorised under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 (65 of 1951), or the Sick Textile Undertakings (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1972 (72 of 1972), to take over the management of the whole or any part of the sick textile undertaking; ... 3. Acquisition of rights of owners in respect of sick textile undertakings. - (1) On the appointed day, every sick textile undertaking and the right, title and interest of the owner in relation to every such sick textile undertaking shall stand transferred to, and shall vest absolutely in, the Central Government. (2) Every sick textile undertaking which stands vested in the Central Government by virtue of sub-section (1) shall, immediately after it has so vested, stand transferred to, and vested in, the National Textile Corporation. (2) Every sick textile undertaking which stands vested in the Central Government by virtue of sub-section (1) shall, immediately after it has so vested, stand transferred to, and vested in, the National Textile Corporation. (3) Notwithstanding the transfer and vesting of any sick textile undertaking to the National Textile Corporation by virtue of sub-section (2), the lease-hold rights of the sick textile undertakings shall continue to remain vested in the Central Government on payment of lease-hold rents and shall be discharged, for and on behalf of that Government, by the National Textile Corporation as and when payment of such lease-hold rents or any amount becomes due and payable. (4) Subject to sub-section(3), no court shall have jurisdiction to order divestment from the National Textile Corporation of the property vested in it by the Central Government. 4.General effect of vesting. - (1) The sick textile undertaking referred to in section 3 shall be deemed to include all assets, rights, lease-holds, powers, authorities and privileges and all property, movable and immovable, including lands, buildings, workshops, stores, instruments, machinery and equipment, cash balances, cash on hand, reserve funds, investments and book debts and all other rights and interests in, or arising out of, such property as were immediately before the appointed day in the ownership, possession, power or control of the owner of the sick textile undertaking, whether within or outside India, and all books of account, registers and all other documents of whatever nature relating thereto and shall also be deemed to include the liabilities and obligations specified in sub-section(2)of section 5. (2) All property as aforesaid which have vested in the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 3 shall, by force of such vesting, be freed and discharged from any trust, obligation, mortgage, charge, lien and all other incumbrances affecting it, and any attachment, injunction or decree or order of any court restricting the use of such property in any manner shall be deemed to have been withdrawn. ... ... (5) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the mortgagee of any property referred to in sub-section (2) or any other person holding any charge, lien or other interest in, or in relation to, any such property shall be entitled to claim, in accordance with his rights and interests, payment of the mortgage money or other dues, in whole or in part, out of the amount specified in relation to such property in the First Schedule, but no such mortgage, charge, lien or other interest shall be enforceable against any property which has vested in the Central Government. ... 5. Owner to be liable for certain prior liabilities. - (1) Every liability, other than the liability specified in sub-section (2) of the owner of a sick textile undertaking, in respect of any period prior to the appointed day, shall be the liability of such owner and shall be enforceable against him and not against the Central Government or the National Textile Corporation. (2) Any liability arising in respect of -- (a) loans advanced by the Central Government, or a State Government, or both, to a sick textile undertaking (together with interest due thereon) after the management of such undertaking had been taken over by the Central Government. (b) amounts advanced to a sick textile undertaking (after the management of such undertaking had been taken over by the Central Government), by the National Textile Corporation or by a State Textile Corporation, or by both, together with interest due thereon. (c) wages, salaries and other dues of employees of the sick textile undertaking, in respect of any period after the management of such undertaking had been taken over by the Central Government, shall, on and from the appointed day, be the liability of the Central Government and shall be discharged, for and on behalf of that Government, by the National Textile Corporation as and when repayment of such loans or amounts becomes due or as and when such wages, salaries or other dues become due and payable.... 30. Contracts to cease to have effect unless ratified by National Textile Corporation . 30. Contracts to cease to have effect unless ratified by National Textile Corporation . - (1) Every contract entered into by the owner or occupier of any sick textile undertaking for any service, sale or supply and in force immediately before the appointed day shall, on and from the expiry of one hundred and eighty days from the date on which this Act receives the assent of the President, cease to have effect unless such contract is before the expiry of that period, ratified, in writing, by the National Textile Corporation and in ratifying such contract the National Textile Corporation may, with the previous approval of the Central Government, make such alterations or modifications therein as it may think fit: Provided that the National Textile Corporation shall not omit to ratify a contract, and shall not make any alteration or modification in a contract, unless it is satisfied that such contract is unduly onerous or has been entered into in bad faith or is detrimental to the interests of the sick textile undertaking. (2) The National Textile Corporation shall not omit to ratify a contract, and, shall not make any alteration or modification therein, except after giving to the parties to the contract a reasonable opportunity of being heard and except after recording in writing its reasons for refusal to ratify the contract or for making any alteration or modification therein. ..." 10. The expression "every liability" used in sub-section (1) of section5, which says “every liability” in respect of any period prior to the appointed day shall be the liability of such owner and shall be enforceable against him and not against the Central Government or National Textile Corporation, is very wide and would include all liabilities whatsoever. The only exception being such liabilities which are satisfied in sub-section (2) of section 5 of the said Act. Counsels, in fairness, agreed that the liability of the bank will not be covered under sub-section (2) of section 5. Therefore, certainly the liability to the bank by the sick unit will be covered under sub-section (1) of section 5. 11. As regards the submission of Sri.Sivakumar that Section 30 is totally not applicable to this case, we would agree with the counsel. Therefore, certainly the liability to the bank by the sick unit will be covered under sub-section (1) of section 5. 11. As regards the submission of Sri.Sivakumar that Section 30 is totally not applicable to this case, we would agree with the counsel. This is because section 30 provides for "such contracts entered into by the owner or occupier of any sick textile undertaking for any service, sale or supply ..." Only such contracts for service, sale or supply are required to be ratified. By no stretch of imagination can the contract between the bank and the company could be termed a contract for any service, sale or supply. In our view, this provision for ratifying such contracts is provided because once the National Textile Corporation takes over the sick textile unit, such contracts for service, sale or supply should not get affected. Of course, an escape route is also given provided the National Textile Corporation is satisfied that such contract is unduly onerous or has been entered into in bad faith or is detrimental to the interests of the company. 12. In the circumstances, in our view, as Section 30 of the Act is not applicable to this case at all, the conclusion arrived at by the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal has to be interfered with. The same is hereby quashed and set aside. Writ Petition is, accordingly, disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, the interim application stands closed.