Delhi High Court Issues Directions To Recovery Officers For Execution Of Recovery Certificates; Constitutes Implementation Committee

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued slew of directions to be followed by SDM/Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority for execution of the Recovery Certificates. The Court also constituted a 6 member committee for implementation of the said directions.

A single judge bench comprising of Justice JR Midha had modified the earlier directions of the Court dated 27th March, 2017 and 13th December, 2019 by observing thus:

"The execution of Recovery Certificate deserves special attention considering that any delay in execution proceedings would frustrate the winning party from reaping the benefits of the award/order in their favor on account of inordinate delay."

The summary of directions laid down by the Court is as follows:

- Upon receipt of the Recovery Certificate, the SDM/ Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall list the matter in open Court within one week of the receipt of the Recovery Certificate.

- On the first date of hearing, the SDM/ Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall issue notice to the respondent and direct the respondent to deposit the due amount within thirty days of the receipt of the notice with a further direction that if the amount is not deposited, the respondent shall file an affidavit of his assets on the date of cause of action, date of the award as well as on the date of the swearing of the affidavit in Form 16A of Appendix E of the Code of Civil Procedure within 30 days of the receipt of the notice.

- The SDM/ Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall also direct the respondent that if the amount is not deposited within 30 days, the respondent shall file additional affidavit in terms of the formats of Annexure A1 / Annexure B1 attached to the judgment of Bhandari Engineers–II (supra) within thirty days of the receipt of notice.

- The SDM/Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall issue the notice to the respondent. Where the respondent is Central Government/State Government/Municipal Corporation/PSU or State/Central Government Entity such as DJB/DDA etc., the notice shall be issued in Format – II.

- In pending execution cases, if the respondent has not already filed the affidavit of assets and income, the SDM/Recovery Officer/ Appropriate Authority shall directthe respondent to file the affidavits of his assets and income in terms of this judgment within 30 days of the receipt of the notice.

- In the event of failure of the respondent to deposit the amount due under the Recovery Certificate, the SDM/Recovery Officer/ Appropriate Authority shall recover the amount by attachment of the assets of the respondent.

- Before attaching a property, the SDM/Recovery Officer/ Appropriate Authority shall ensure that the property does not fall in the list of properties which are exempted from attachment/sale under the proviso to Section 60(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure.

- All proceedings before the SDM/Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall be held in open Court. The daily cause list of the cases shall be displayed outside the Court Room as well as on the website.

- The orders passed by the SDM/Recovery Officer/Appropriate Authority shall be released on the website of the respective SDM/E-Courts portal within one week.

"These guidelines be implemented with effect from 02nd August, 2021. Government of NCT of Delhi shall publish these modified guidelines on its website and shall circulate it to all concerned SDMs/ Recovery Officers/ Appropriate Authorities." The Court said.

Furthermore, for better implementation of the guidelines, the Court constituted a 6 member committee comprising of the following:

(i) Principal Secretary (Law, Justice & Legislative Affairs), GNCTD as Convenor.

(ii) Principal Secretary (Revenue), GNCTD.

(iii) Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Labour), GNCTD.

(iv) Member Secretary, DSLSA.

(v) Ms. Nandita Rao, Additional Standing Counsel, GNCTD.

(vi) Mr. Akshay Chowdhary, Advocate.

The Court directed the SDMs/Recovery Officers/ Appropriate Authorities to send the Status Report containing list of all pending cases to the Implementation Committee.

"The SDMs/Recovery Officers/Appropriate Authorities shall also send a list of execution cases decided in the last six months. The first list of cases as on 01st August, 2021 be sent by 16th August, 2021 and thereafter, every six months." The Court said.

Furthermore, it also directed SDMs/Recovery Officers/Appropriate Authorities shall also file quarterly compliance report before the Implementation Committee.

"The first compliance report for the quarter 02nd August, 2021 to 31st October, 2021 be filed by 30th November, 2021 and thereafter by 30th of each quarter. The same shall be placed before the Implementation Committee for consideration within four weeks." The Court said.

Title: SANTOSH KUMAR JHA v. THE DEPUTY LABOUR COMMISSIONER (SOUTH)

Click Here To Read Judgment