Punjab and Haryana High Court seeks report from DRT-III after plea alleges delay in adjudication of reserved cases

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday directed the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT-III), Chandigarh, to submit a report about the cases in which orders have been reserved for over three months.

A Division Bench of Justice Jusgurpreet Singh Puri and Justice Sanjiv Berry passed the order in a plea moved by Jairath Dyeing and Finishing which said that its case before the DRT was reserved for final orders on April 06 but no order has been pronounced till date.

The Court asked the DRT-III to submit a report with regard to the case before August 17.

"In addition to the above, DRT-III, Chandigarh, shall also submit a report giving details of those cases in which orders have been reserved for more than three months and have not been pronounced as yet," the Bench directed further.

Jairath Dyeing and Finishing, a proprietorship engaged in manufacture and export of knitted cloth and readymade garments, had filed a securitization application before DRT-III in March.

The plea challenged Indian Bank's decision to sell the properties mortgaged by the proprietorship in relation to a cash credit facility sanctioned to it in 2011.

The loan account had earlier been classified as a Non Performing Asset (NPA) as the proprietorship failed to pay the outstanding dues.

The Court was told that the securitization application was heard on April 06 and the case was adjourned to April 18 for pronouncement of final order but till date neither the final order has been passed nor there is any update about the status of the case.

The plea alleged that this was not a solitary case of delay in DRT-III Chandigarh but in most of the reserved cases, the judgment is not pronounced for a period of three or more months. However, it also said that the decisions in some cases come within a week.

It was also submitted that in certain cases where the judgments are reserved after final arguments, the tribunal suddenly fixes them for re-hearing.

"In the DRT-III, Chandigarh, there is grave arbitrariness and inconsistency in the passing of the final judgment, where the final arguments have been heard and the judgment has been reserved," the plea said.

Advocate Pankaj Gupta represented the petitioners.

Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain with Central Government Counsel Prajwal Chauhan represented the Union government.

[Read Order]