SARFAESI enforcement may proceed despite pending civil suits where statutory conditions for section 13 action are met.

Pendency of civil suits concerning liability or the amount payable does not bar a secured creditor from invoking SARFAESI enforcement powers where the statutory conditions under section 13 are satisfied. Section 13(1) permits enforcement without court or tribunal intervention, and section 37 makes the Act an additional remedy rather than one that displaces other laws. Read with sections 34 and 37, the scheme preserves concurrent remedies unless expressly excluded. The bank was therefore entitled to proceed under the Act despite the pending suits, and the challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the bank could invoke section 13 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 despite pendency of civil suits between the parties concerning liability and the amount payable.

Analysis: Section 13(1) authorises enforcement of security interest without intervention of the Court or Tribunal, and the statute does not create any bar against resort to that remedy merely because civil proceedings concerning the same debt are pending. Section 37 makes the remedy under the Act additional to, and not in derogation of, other laws. Sections 34 and 37, read with the scheme of the Act, show that the statutory remedy is concurrent with other lawful remedies unless expressly excluded. Once the jurisdictional conditions for action under section 13 are satisfied, pendency of civil suits does not prevent invocation of the Act.

Conclusion: The bank was entitled to proceed under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 notwithstanding the pending civil suits, and the challenge failed.

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