Delhi High Court slams NGO for filing PIL challenging SARFAESI Act based on single ToI report

The Delhi High Court recently expressed strong objection to a plea filed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) challenging provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act..A Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad opined that the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Justice for All alleging that the Act was being misused to take over government land allotted to charitable institutions, was motivated."While this Court is cognizant of the liberal rules pertaining to locus vis-à-vis public interest litigation, it must also ensure that busybodies, meddlesome interlopers, wayfarers or officious interveners having oblique interests are not allowed to waste precious judicial time of this court. In the opinion of this Court, the present public interest litigation is motivated through extraneous and oblique interests and is frivolous in nature," the High Court stated while dismissing the plea on May 18..In particular, the Bench took objection to the NGO basing its allegations on a single Times of India report."The petitioner has taken this report and attempted to paint a picture wherein the Banks are abusing the provisions of the SARFAESI Act and that the officials of the DDA are allotting Nazul land contrary to the provisions of the DDA Nazul Rules. The petitioner has attempted to show that this is a systemic issue and not a single instance but has failed to establish the same through the documents presented before us."The report in question was about a school premises in Delhi's Karkardooma being taken over by a bank after the former defaulted on a loan..The petitioner prayed that charitable institutions be exempt or protected from the SARFAESI Act, and that institutions be examined for such land allotments. Pertinently, through the PIL, it was also sought that the society running the school in question be probed along with concerned officials.It was argued that the Act is being used against schools and has become a device used by private institutions to convert social infrastructure created for education for commercial purposes, violating children’s fundamental right to education..The Bench at the outset noted that the respondent-school/society had already approached the Court in separate proceedings, where relief had granted to the extent of de-sealing the premises.Further, it held that alternative remedies of approaching a Debts Recovery Tribunal were available under the statute."Therefore, the issue pertaining to the effect of the Bank’s action under SARFAESI Act upon the right of education of the school children is already pending before this Court. It would thus be inappropriate for this Court to take cognizance of this issue in a PIL when another bench of this Court is already seized of the matter.".The High Court was dismissive of the allegations regarding misuse of land use provisions in the plea."These are bald allegations as the Petitioner has failed to establish the veracity of these allegations through documents or his averments."Accordingly, the PIL was not entertained..Advocates Khagesh B Jha, and Shikha Sharma Bagga represented the petitioner. Advocates Pramod Gupta and Pranjal appeared for the school. Advocates Sanjay Katyal and Nihal Singh appeared for the Delhi Development Authority.Advocate Santosh Kumar Rout appeared for Punjab National Bank.Advocates Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Arun Panwar, Mahak Rankawat, Pradyumn Rao, Aakriti Mishra and Kartik Sharma appeared for the Delhi government.Advocates Yeeshu Jain, Jyoti Tyagi, and Manisha appeared for the Reserve Bank of India. Advocates Anurag Ahluwalia, Abhigyan Siddhant, and Rohit Kumar appeared for the Central government..[Read judgment]