Justice R K Deshpande and Justice Vinay Joshi at the High Court here have issued a notice to the respondent -- Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) -- for final disposal of the writ petition filed by Allahabad Bank on August 23 next. While issuing the notice, the court has directed the Tribunal to accept the petitioner’s application filed for vacating the interim order in the meantime and pass appropriate order thereon after hearing the parties concerned.

 

 

The petitioner-bank has challenged the action of the Presiding Officer at DRT in returning the original application for vacation of interim relief without calling for any say/or granting a hearing and passing order thereon. The bank has also challenged the scrutiny made by the DRT Presiding Officer himself of the said application and writing objections thereon, in violation of DRT Regulations, 2015, before returning the application.

 

 

It has been alleged in the petition that the Presiding Officer has ‘arbitrarily and whimsically’ returned the application without hearing and passing order thereon and that he cannot devise the ‘procedure, which suits him’. He has done so in the past also in the O.A.No. 27/2012, on November 30, 2018. The said O.A. is still pending. Besides other prayers, the petitioner-bank has also prayed for a direction to the respondent -- DRT PO -- for complying  with DRT Regulations, 2015 in letter and spirit and not to return the interlocutory applications filed in the cases (before him)

by writing objections and without hearing or passing orders thereon. Advocates S N Kumar, Sukhada Tatwawadi, and Asish Aswani appeared for the petitioner-bank.