Rajesh Sharma And Ors vs Ld. Recovery Officer

P.K. Bhasin, J

By way of this application the three certificate debtors, facing recovery proceedings initiated by the Recovery Officer Mr. Alok Kumar Dixit attached to the DRT-I, Delhi, are seeking withdrawal of R.C. No. 54/2004 from Mr. Alok Kumar Dixit and its transfer to some other Recovery Officer. The recovery proceedings are going on in respect the recovery certificate issued way back in the year 2004 and shockingly, till date the recovery of the Bank's dues adjudicated in the Bank's Original Application to the tune of crores of rupees has not been effected.

The Recovery Officer had issued arrest warrants against all the certificate debtors including the three applicants herein because of their failure to file affidavits of their assets from which the recovery could be effected.

On 24.3.2017, the Recovery Officer passed some remarks about the behavior of one advocate Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari when he had appeared before the Recovery Officer after the matter in respect of the Recovery Certificate No. 54/2004 had stood adjourned to 25.4.2017. The Recovery Officer recorded in his proceedings after the adjournment of the matter that when Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari had appeared, he had started shouting and used demeaning language. Feeling aggrieved with those remarks of the Recovery Officer, Misc. Application No. 277/2017 was filed before this Tribunal in which Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari had filed his own affidavit in support of the prayer made for expunging the said adverse remarks passed by the Recovery Officer on 24.3.2017.

Vide my separate order passed today itself in Misc. Application No. 277/17 I have ordered that the above noted remarks against Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari shall stand expunged.

The present Transfer Application has been moved by three certificate debtors because of the Recovery Officer having passed adverse remarks against their arguing counsel Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari. The Vakalatnama given by the present applicants is to one Mr. Ravi Data, Advocate.

I had sent for the Recovery Officer's file in respect of R.C. No. 54/2004 and a perusal thereof shows that despite many opportunities having been granted to the certificate debtors against whom there was a joint and several recovery certificate issued by the Presiding Officer of the DRT in the year 2004, they had failed to submit their affidavits of assets belonging to them from the sale of which the recovery of crores of rupees could be effected.

Consequently, the Recovery Officer had issued arrest warrants against the certificate debtors. The arrest warrants do not appear to have been executed on any occasion and even till date the certificate debtors remain to be arrested and detained in prison for the recovery of the dues of the certificate holder Bank. In fact, the file of the Recovery Officer shows that he has been issuing arrest warrants and then withdrawing the same at the request of the certificate debtors without any one of them offering to make the payments. That soft attitude adopted by the Recovery Officer has also contributed to a great extent in Bank's dues not being recovered. The ground pleaded in the present application for withdrawing the recovery case from Mr. Alok Kumar Dixit, Recovery Officer, namely, passing of adverse remarks by him against the applicants' arguing Counsel Mr. Sanjiv Bhandari appears to be an excuse for further delaying the recovery efforts being made by the Recovery Officer. This appears to be an attempt on part of the certificate debtors, from whom crores of rupees have to be recovered, to simply put pressure upon the Recovery Officer to have a soft attitude towards them and the recovery is not effected from them by their detention in prison which is one of the modes of recoveries recognised under the Recovery of Dues due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993.

This Transfer Application is, therefore, rejected.