Bombay High stays the Centre's Notification limiting the jurisdiction of cases above Rs. 100 Crores to 3 Debts Recovery Tribunals.
The Bombay High Court, Aurangabad bench comprising Justices Ravindra V. Chuge and Sanjay A. Deshmukh were hearing a petition on Thursday and stayed the Centre's Notification limiting the jurisdiction of cases above Rs. 100 Crores to 3 Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs).
The High Court noted that prima facie, the notification was divesting the jurisdiction of Debts Recovery Tribunals at various locations by creating a pecuniary limitation without any amendment to the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1953. This appears to be unsustainable, the Bench observed.
The High Court observed, "prima facie, it appears from the record that, the Debts Recovery Tribunals established at various locations, would now be divested of their jurisdiction, on the ground of pecuniary limitation created by a Notification, without any amendment to the RDB Act. This appears to be unsustainable".
The High court observed that if matters were transferred from the various DRTs to a particular DRT and subsequently the notification is struck down, those matters would have to be transferred back to the respective Debts Recovery Tribunals which originally had the jurisdiction.
The High Court bench noted, "We are also conscious that, if the matters are transferred from various Debts Recovery Tribunals to a particular Debts Recovery Tribunal as per the impugned Notification, and subsequently, if the Notification is held to be unsustainable, all the transferred matters, which could be in several thousand, will have to be transferred back to the Debts Recovery Tribunals, which originally had the jurisdiction."
The High Court considered the seriousness and urgency of the issue and directed the government to file its reply 15 days before the next date of hearing, i.e., 4 January 2023.