Chief Judicial Magistrate jurisdiction under SARFAESI Section 14 includes non-metropolitan areas for possession assistance.

Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act authorises a Magistrate to render procedural and administrative assistance to a secured creditor for taking possession of secured assets, without adjudicating inter se rights. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate reference in the provision was read as including the Chief Judicial Magistrate in a non-metropolitan area, since the offices are equivalent for this purpose and the Act operates in addition to the Code of Criminal Procedure under Section 37. On that construction, a Chief Judicial Magistrate in a non-metropolitan area is competent to entertain and act on an application under Section 14.

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Issues: Whether the Chief Judicial Magistrate in a non-metropolitan area is competent to entertain an application under Section 14 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and assist the secured creditor in taking possession of the secured asset.

Analysis: Section 14 authorises the Magistrate to render assistance to the secured creditor in taking possession of secured assets. The Court held that the function under Section 14 is procedural and administrative in nature, with no adjudication of rights involved, and that the Magistrate only satisfies himself about the factual assertions in the affidavit before issuing suitable orders. The Court further held that the expressions Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Chief Judicial Magistrate represent equivalent offices in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas respectively, and that the reference in Section 14 to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate is not exhaustive of the authority competent to act. The Court also relied on Section 37 of the Act to hold that the Act operates in addition to other laws, including the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and that there was no casus omissus requiring the Court to restrict the provision to metropolitan areas alone.

Conclusion: The Chief Judicial Magistrate in a non-metropolitan area has jurisdiction to entertain an application under Section 14 of the Act and to assist the secured creditor in taking possession of the secured asset.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory function is merely to assist in taking possession and is non-adjudicatory, the reference to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 is to be read as including the Chief Judicial Magistrate in a non-metropolitan area, especially in light of Section 37 and the scheme of the Act.

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