SARFAESI auction sale completed before CIRP moratorium cannot be undone once sale is confirmed and title has vested.

In a statutory public auction under the SARFAESI framework, title passes when the bid is accepted and the sale is confirmed; the sale certificate is only evidence of that title and no separate conveyance deed is required. On the facts, the secured asset had progressed through possession, sale notice, e-auction, confirmation of sale, payment of the balance consideration, and issuance of the sale certificate before commencement of CIRP. Registration of the sale certificate did not alter the completed transfer, and the later insolvency moratorium could not unsettle a transaction already concluded. The challenge to cancellation of the sale therefore failed, and the sale in favour of the auction purchaser was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the SARFAESI sale of the secured asset, culminating in confirmation of sale and issuance of sale certificate before commencement of the insolvency moratorium, had already transferred title to the auction purchaser so as to render the appellant's challenge untenable.

Analysis: The sale process under the SARFAESI framework was held to have progressed through possession, sale notice, e-auction, confirmation of sale, payment of the balance consideration, and issuance of the sale certificate before the commencement of CIRP. The Court applied the settled principle that in a public auction sale, once the bid is accepted and the sale is confirmed, the sale becomes absolute and title vests in the purchaser. The sale certificate is only evidence of that title and no further deed of transfer is required. On that basis, registration of the sale certificate did not affect the completed transfer, and the later commencement of moratorium under insolvency law could not unsettle a transaction already concluded.

Conclusion: The challenge to cancellation of the SARFAESI sale failed, and the sale in favour of the auction purchaser was upheld as having been completed before the insolvency moratorium.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was affirmed because the secured asset had already passed out of the corporate debtor's estate before the insolvency restrictions came into force.

Ratio Decidendi: In a statutory public auction sale, title passes on confirmation of sale and issuance of the sale certificate serves only as evidence of that title; a later insolvency moratorium does not undo a sale already completed before the insolvency commencement date.

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