STERLITE TECHNOLOGIES LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution are directed against an order of the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) dated 22 November 2011 on an application for waiver of deposit under the provisions of Section 21 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. By the order impugned, the DRAT has declined to grant any waiver of deposit and has required the Petitioner to deposit 75% of the decretal amount under the substantive provisions of Section 21.

(2.) The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has decreed the claim of the Fourth Respondent by its order dated 28 October 2010 in the following terms :

(3.) Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner submits that under the proviso to Section 21 of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993, the Appellate Tribunal is empowered for reasons to be recorded in writing to waive or reduce the amount to be deposited under the Section. In the present case, the Petitioner did not seek a waiver on the ground of financial hardship, but principally on the ground that the judgment and order passed by the Tribunal is prima facie incorrect. The Appellate Tribunal has completely failed to consider whether a prima facie case has been made out and since no case was advanced on the ground of financial hardship, directed a full deposit representing 75% of the decretal amount. This, it is urged, amounts to a failure to exercise the jurisdiction and is amenable to the writ jurisdiction of this Court.