SARFAESI exclusion for agricultural land defeats enforcement, and writ relief lies despite Section 17 remedy when action is without jurisdiction.

Agricultural land is excluded from the operation of the SARFAESI Act by Section 31(i), so enforcement measures taken against such secured asset cannot be sustained. Where the secured asset was undisputedly agricultural land, the District Magistrate's order under the Act had no legal foundation and was without jurisdiction. The existence of an appellate remedy under Section 17 did not bar writ relief in such circumstances, because a measure that is a nullity need not be challenged through that statutory route. The impugned order was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the District Magistrate's order under the SARFAESI Act, 2002 could be sustained where the secured asset was agricultural land, and whether the availability of an appeal under Section 17 barred the writ petition.

Analysis: The secured asset was an agricultural land and that factual position was not in dispute. Section 31(i) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 excludes security interest created in agricultural land from the operation of the Act. Once the statutory exclusion applied, the measures taken under the Act could not be enforced against such land, and the order passed by the District Magistrate lacked legal foundation. In such a situation, the mere availability of the appellate remedy under Section 17 did not require the petitioners to be driven to that remedy, because the impugned action itself was without jurisdiction and a nullity.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the writ petition was allowed.

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