A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar sought the government’s reply within five weeks, allowing an additional three weeks for the petitioner to file a rejoinder.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday (18th Nov) issued a notice to the Union government seeking its response on the non-appointment of chairpersons in 11 Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) across the country.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar sought the government’s reply within five weeks, allowing an additional three weeks for the petitioner to file a rejoinder.
Established under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993, DRTs are quasi-judicial bodies designed to expedite debt recovery for banks and creditors. However, their operations have been hampered by delays in filling vacancies for tribunal members.
In 2021, the Supreme Court directed High Courts to entertain applications ordinarily filed before DRTs and the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) as an interim solution, citing the lack of tribunal personnel.
The Court’s order stated:
“For the time being, we request the High Courts to entertain the applications which they have to file before DRT or DRAT under Article 226… Once the Tribunal is constituted, the matters can be relegated back to the Tribunal.”
Similarly, in 2022, the Kerala High Court criticized the Central government for its failure to address tribunal vacancies, noting the severe hardships this caused litigants.
According to the petition, as of September 30, 11 out of 39 Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) across the country are without Presiding Officers. These include tribunals in Jaipur, Chennai (2), Mumbai (2), Aurangabad, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Bengaluru, and Lucknow. Additionally, in Chandigarh, one of the two tribunals remains non-functional.
The petition further highlighted that while a circular issued on September 5, 2023, pointed to the need to fill these vacancies, no substantial action has been taken to process the appointments.
The PIL underscores that the right to speedy justice is a fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as recognized by the Supreme Court in the 2020 case of District Bar Association Dehradun vs. Ishwar Shandilya.
The PIL requests that the Ministry of Finance produce records related to the selection and appointment of Presiding Officers in DRTs to assess the government’s commitment to addressing these vacancies.
It also seeks a directive to the Centre to ensure the timely filling of current vacancies and to implement measures that prevent delays in future appointments.
As an interim measure, the PIL asks that the powers of the non-functional DRTs be transferred to other tribunals to avoid disruption of services.
The PIL further calls for any additional orders necessary to ensure the efficient functioning of DRTs in the interest of justice.
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