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Sarvesh Bansal & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 61 of 2011)Decided 3 Feb 2015
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 61 of 2011
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Kurian Joseph

Background

The petitioners filed a writ petition directly in the Supreme Court seeking to quash a notice dated 2 June 2004 issued by Rupee Co-operative Bank Ltd. under Section 13(2) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 (the law that lets banks recover dues by taking possession of secured assets without first going to court). This was the sole relief sought in the petition.

Decision Breakdown

At the hearing, senior counsel for the respondent bank informed the Court that the bank had withdrawn the very notice under challenge, since it intended instead to execute an arbitral award already made in its favour. Because the only grievance in the petition, the notice, no longer existed, the Court held that the petition did not survive and dismissed it with no order as to costs, discharging the earlier rule and vacating the interim relief that had been granted.

Lesson Learnt

A court will dismiss a petition as infructuous once the specific action being challenged (here, a recovery notice) is itself withdrawn by the other side: the case becomes moot and there is nothing left for the court to decide.

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

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