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Baleshwar Dayal Jaiswal v. Bank of India & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5924 of 2015)Decided 5 Aug 2015
Civil Appeal No. 5924 of 2015
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel

Background

Several borrowers had their appeals against bank recovery actions, filed before the Appellate Tribunal under Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act, rejected as time-barred because the Tribunal held it had no power to condone delay beyond the statutory period. Different High Courts (Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Madras) had taken conflicting views on whether such delay could be condoned. Four connected civil appeals (one by a bank, three by borrowers) were taken up together to settle the question authoritatively.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the Appellate Tribunal under the SARFAESI Act does have the power to condone delay in filing an appeal under Section 18(1), because Section 18(2) of the SARFAESI Act expressly incorporates the procedure of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDB Act), including the RDB Act's proviso to Section 20(3) permitting condonation of delay. The Court reasoned that since the RDB Act's condonation power is incorporated by reference, the absence of a separate express condonation clause in the SARFAESI Act does not mean condonation is barred; it overruled the Madhya Pradesh High Court's contrary view and approved the result (though not always the reasoning) reached by the Andhra Pradesh, Bombay and Madras High Courts. It separately held that Section 29(2) of the Limitation Act does not independently apply here because the special statutes already incorporate their own condonation mechanism, which impliedly excludes the general Limitation Act provision. The bank's appeal was dismissed; the borrowers' appeals were allowed, with the matters remanded to the respective High Court/Appellate Tribunal for fresh decision on merits.

Lesson Learnt

If your appeal before a specialised recovery tribunal is rejected purely as "time-barred," check whether the governing special law borrows its procedure from another statute that permits condonation of delay for "sufficient cause": such incorporation can preserve your right to be heard even after the normal limitation period has passed.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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