Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 18: The Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan, directed the parties to maintain status quo regarding the nature, character and possession of the secured asset, effectively restraining any dispossession, transfer, or alteration.
The interim protection has been sought to prevent forcible dispossession of the borrower’s family, pending adjudication.
A Special Leave Petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of India challenging the judgment passed by the J&K High Court. The case arises from SARFAESI proceedings initiated by a cooperative bank against a small business borrower, M/s Gogi Motor Store, leading to auction of the borrower’s sole residential house.
Despite repayment of over Rs 46.66 lakhs, the bank proceeded to auction a residential property valued at approximately Rs 1.87 crore for alleged dues of around Rs 19–23 lakhs, raising serious concerns of disproportionality and arbitrariness.
Advocate Keshav Thakur and others, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the statutory right of redemption under Section 13(8) of the SARFAESI Act and of Transfer of Property Act (J&K) were unlawfully denied. The petitioner contended that the High Court misapplied precedents and ignored mandatory Rules 8 and 9 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 and failed to consider the availability of an alternative statutory remedy before the DRT.
The petition raises important questions relating to borrower protection, valuation fairness, right to housing under Article 21, and limits of writ jurisdiction in SARFAESI matters.
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