Can An Order Passed By District Magistrate U/S 14 SARFAESI Act Be Quashed By High Court U/S 482 CrPC? Supreme Court Issues Notice

Can a High Court, in excercise of its power under Section 482 CrPC, quash an order passed by the District Magistrate under Section 14  of the SARFAESI Act? A Special Leave Petition raising this issue has been filed before the Supreme Court which has issued notice.

In this case, the Madras High Court allowed a petition filed under Section 482 CrPC challenging an orders passed by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Egmore, Chennai under Section 14 SARFAESI Act (to assist secured creditor in taking possession of secured asset). The court agreed with the contention of the petitioner that this order was passed by the Magistrate without affording an opportunity of hearing to the Petitioner.

Before the Apex Court, the contention raised is that against the order passed by the District Magistrate under of the SARFAESI Act, proceedings under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., are not maintainable at all.

The bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh took note of this submission and issued notice in the matter.

Conflicting views

There are conflicting views expressed by Madras High Court on this issue. For instance, in an order passed in the year 2020, another single bench of the High Court had held that the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate is a persona designata under the SARFAESI Act and his orders cannot be challenged under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Very recently, another single judge observed that order under Section 14 of SARFAESI Act 'can be very well challenged' before the High Court under Section 482 CrPC.

Case details

Phoenix Arc Private Limited vs V. Ganesh Murthy | SLP(Diary) 32916/2022

Counsel: Mr. Vikas Kumar, Adv. ,  Mr. Himanshu Menghani, Adv. , M/S Corporate Legal Partners, AOR

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