Execution proceedings must transfer to the Debt Recovery Tribunal, with only limited scrutiny of unexecuted decrees under the amended recovery scheme.

The amended Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act creates an exclusive forum for recovery matters and requires pending execution proceedings to be transferred from the High Court to the Debt Recovery Tribunal. The phrase "other proceedings" in section 31 is wide enough to include execution proceedings, and transferred matters continue from the stage already reached rather than being tried de novo. For unexecuted civil decrees, section 31A allows the decree-holder to seek a recovery certificate from the Tribunal, which conducts only limited scrutiny, including on grounds of nullity or fraud, before the Recovery Officer proceeds with recovery.

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Issues: Whether execution applications pending before the High Court were required to be transferred to the Debt Recovery Tribunal under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993, as amended.

Analysis: The Act creates an exclusive forum for recovery of debts due to banks and financial institutions and bars the jurisdiction of other courts in matters within section 17. Section 31, as originally enacted, provided for transfer of every suit or other proceeding pending before a court if the cause of action would fall within the Tribunal's jurisdiction, and the amended provision removed the words "or de novo" so that transferred matters continue from the stage already reached. The amended scheme, including section 31A, also specifically addresses decrees passed by civil courts and permits the decree-holder to apply to the Tribunal for a recovery certificate where the decree has not yet been fully executed. The expression "other proceedings" was held to be wide enough to include execution proceedings, and the Tribunal's role under section 31A is confined to a narrow scrutiny of the decree on grounds such as nullity or fraud, after which the Recovery Officer must proceed with recovery.

Conclusion: Execution proceedings pending before the High Court stand transferred to the Debt Recovery Tribunal and are to be dealt with under the Act as amended.

Ratio Decidendi: The expression "other proceedings" in section 31 of the Act includes pending execution proceedings, and after the amendments a decree-holder must pursue recovery of an unexecuted decree before the Tribunal through section 31A, subject only to limited scrutiny on grounds of nullity or fraud.

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