Arunbhai Kalyanbhai Sutariya v. Nutan Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd. & Anr.
Background
This order does not decide the main case. The dispute concerns recovery by a cooperative bank and whether the SARFAESI Act, 2002 or the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 applies. The appellant had an appeal pending before the Debts Recovery Tribunal, Ahmedabad, and the bank had an appeal pending before the Gujarat State Cooperative Tribunal against a related order.
Decision Breakdown
This is not a final decision on the main case. On 10 March 2015 the Court said it would not entertain the appeal on merits. It directed both pending appeals to be decided within three months and ordered that no coercive recovery steps be taken under the SARFAESI Act in the meantime. It expressly kept open the question of law on the applicability of the two Acts.
Lesson Learnt
There is no final ruling yet on whether the SARFAESI Act or the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act governs this recovery. The only operative direction is interim protection against coercive recovery until the tribunals decide.