2020 (9) TMI 1313

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....dant) had adopted measures under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 ("SARFAESI Act") against the Respondents' property and under Section 34 of that act, no civil court had jurisdiction to entertain any suit or application in respect of those measures. 3 The present suit has been filed by the Respondents/plaintiffs inter alia on the ground that the property, being the subject matter of security interest in favour of the Applicant/defendant, is an agricultural land, to which provisions of SARFAESI Act do not apply. The Respondents have averred in the plaint that the suit property is an agricultural land, relying upon a 7/12 extract in respect thereof. The Applicant/defenda....

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....bunal is empowered by or under this Act (i.e SARFAESI Act) to determine". If security interest in its favour has been created in respect of an agricultural land, no bank or financial institution can resort to measures provided under Section 13 of SARFAESI Act in respect of such security interest and there is no question of civil court's jurisdiction being barred in such a case. It is important to note that we are not considering whether the civil court should grant any injunction against the action taken or to be taken by the defendant bank under the SARFAESI Act; we have not come to that stage as yet. We are at the stage of an application under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code, which is on the footing that the plaint, as it stands, discloses wa....

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....t the suit property is an agricultural land and provisions of SARFAESI Act have no application to it. There is, therefore, no question of rejecting the plaint as it stands. 6 Learned Counsel for the Applicant submits that having regard to the provisions of SARFAESI Act, particularly, the mandate of Section 34 thereof, a prolonged civil trial in a matter involving provisions of SARFAESI Act is not contemplated by law. Learned Counsel submits that if the bank has to go through the entire trial, it will defeat the very objective behind the provisions of SARFAESI Act. One can understand the Applicant's apprehension; but a clear answer to this dreaded predicament is making of an application for framing a preliminary issue of jurisdiction questi....