Civil court jurisdiction remains open where the DRT lacks jurisdiction under SARFAESI and related debt recovery law.

Section 34 of the SARFAESI Act bars civil court jurisdiction only for matters the DRT or Appellate Tribunal is competent to determine. The Act's appeal mechanism under Section 17 must be read with the DRT's monetary jurisdiction under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. Because the secured debt here was below the Tribunal's jurisdictional threshold, the DRT could not entertain the dispute. Civil court jurisdiction was therefore not excluded, and the court remained competent to grant injunctive relief; the refusal to reject the plaint was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the civil court's jurisdiction was barred under Section 34 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 when the secured debt involved was below the monetary limit for the Debts Recovery Tribunal.

Analysis: Section 34 bars civil court jurisdiction only in respect of matters which the Debts Recovery Tribunal or the Appellate Tribunal is empowered to determine. Section 17 provides the statutory appeal mechanism under the Securitisation Act, but the Act itself does not separately define the monetary jurisdiction of the Tribunal for such matters. The Tribunal's jurisdiction had therefore to be read with Section 1(4) of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. On the facts, the secured amounts were below Rs. 10 lakhs, so the Debts Recovery Tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Where the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction, the bar under Section 34 does not operate, and the civil court remains competent to grant injunction.

Conclusion: The civil court's jurisdiction was not barred, and the order refusing rejection of the plaint suffered from no illegality warranting interference.

Ratio Decidendi: The bar under Section 34 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 applies only where the Debts Recovery Tribunal or Appellate Tribunal is competent to determine the matter; if the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction, the civil court is not excluded.

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