Automatic statutory transfer to the debt recovery tribunal applies to suits on the original side, even after transfer under civil procedure.

A suit transferred to the High Court's original side under Section 24 CPC did not escape the automatic transfer mandated by Section 31 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. Once the statutory conditions were met, the transfer operated by force of law, and no exception arose merely because the matter had earlier reached the original side. Suits originally filed on the original side and suits later transferred there from a civil court were treated alike for this purpose. The Registrar's role was only ministerial, and the High Court had no jurisdiction to retain or decide a matter that stood transferred to the Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether a suit transferred to the original side of the High Court under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 continued to remain outside the automatic transfer mandated by Section 31 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993, and whether the High Court had jurisdiction to retain such suit after the statutory transfer.

Analysis: The transfer under Section 31 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 operates automatically when the statutory conditions are satisfied. The circumstance that the suit had earlier been moved to the original side of the High Court under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 does not create any exception. Suits originally instituted on the original side and suits later transferred there from a civil court are treated alike for the purpose of Section 31. The Registrar's role is only ministerial, and the High Court cannot continue to deal with a matter that stands transferred to the Tribunal by operation of law.

Conclusion: The suit was liable to stand transferred to the Tribunal, and the High Court had no jurisdiction to retain or decide it.

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