Subhash Navratanmal Shah vs The Authorised Officer,Saraswat Co ...
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Gujarat High Court

Subhash Navratanmal Shah vs The Authorised Officer,Saraswat Co ... on 10 March, 2026

                                                                                                                     NEUTRAL CITATION




                            C/SCA/2725/2026                                           ORDER DATED: 10/03/2026

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                                   IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                                     R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 2725 of 2026

                      ==========================================================
                                  SUBHASH NAVRATANMAL SHAH & ANR.
                                                Versus
                      THE AUTHORISED OFFICER,SARASWAT CO OPERATIVE BANK LIMITED
                      ==========================================================
                      Appearance:
                      MR VIJAY H PATEL(7361) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
                      MR LALIT M PATEL(2239) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
                      ==========================================================

                         CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRAL R. MEHTA

                                                          Date : 10/03/2026

                                                            ORAL ORDER

[1] By way of present petition under Article 226 of the

Constitution of the India, the petitioners have approached this

Court with the following reliefs.

"10(a) YOUR LORDSHIP may allow this writ petition by issuing the writ of Certiorari and/or any other appropriate writ/direction or order and thereby quash and set aside the impugned notice dated 23.02.2026 (Annexure P/1) and impugned order dated 23.01.2026 at (Annexure "P/2") as being arbitrary, unjust, unreasonable and discriminatory, in the interest of justice and equity;

(b) YOUR LORDSHIP may allow this writ petition by issuing

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the writ of Certiorari and/or any other appropriate writ/direction or order and thereby quash and set aside the order dated 21.02.2026 (Annexure P/3) passed in SA No. 29/2026 being as being arbitrary, unjust, unreasonable and discriminatory, in the interest of justice and equity;

(c) Be pleased to stay the operation and implementation of impugned notice dated 23.02.2026 and impugned order dated 21.02.2026 during the pendency of the petition and further be pleased to restrain the respondent from taking any coercive action against the property in question.

(d) Ex-parte Ad - interim relief in terms of Para 9 (c).

(e) Any other relief, order or direction which may be just, fit, proper, and equitable in the facts and circumstances of the Petition."

[2] Heard learned advocate Mr. Vijay Patel for the

petitioners and learned advocate Mr. Lalit Patel for Respondent.

[3] Learned advocate for the petitioners submitted that

petitioners are challenging order dated 21st February 2026 passed

by DRT-I, Ahmedabad in S.A. No.29 of 2026. It is further

submitted that the Petitioners have received a notice from the

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Court Commissioners for taking possession of the properties on 1st

March 2026. He further submitted that as per the procedure,

physical documents are also required to be filed before the Registry

over and above filing of Appeal before DRAT, Mumbai, some time

is likely to be consumed; however, learned advocate for the

petitioners, in the interregnum period, apprehends that respondent

is likely to take possession of the properties as per the notice

received by the petitioners. Thus, learned advocate for the

petitioners submitted that in that eventuality, if the indulgence is

not shown by this Court, petitioners will be left remediless.

[4] On the other hand, Mr. Patel, learned advocate for the

respondent, fairly conceded that keeping in mind the principle of

fair play, respondent No.1 shall not take the possession of the

subject properties of the petitioners till 24th March 2026. However,

Mr. Patel requested that if in the meantime, the petitioners fail to

get any order from the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Chennai,

no further indulgence by way of any extension of time, be granted.

[5] Request and the approach of Mr. Patel appears to be

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reasonable and fair.

[6] In view of above, the present petition deserves to be

disposed of, without much entering into the merits of the case, with

the following directions:

(i) The petitioners are hereby directed to approach

the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai as

expeditiously as possible by following and complying all the

formalities, so that effective hearing of the Appeal may take

place by the learned Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal,

Mumbai.

(ii) The said exercise shall have to be completed by

the petitioners before 24th March 2026 so that learned Debt

Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai can pass appropriate

orders.

(iii) It is, however, clarified that the indulgence granted by

this Court is purely on the ground of conveniency and

thereby, needless to clarify that there shall not be any further

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indulgence by this Court.

(iv) It is further clarified that if on or before 24 th

March 2026 the petitioners fail to secure any interim order

from Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, then in that case, it is

open for the Bank to take recourse of taking over possession

of the properties in accordance with law.

(iv) Respondent as well as Court Commissioners shall

not take possession of the properties of the petitioners till 24th

March 2026.

[7] With aforesaid observations and directions, present

petition stands disposed of.

Direct service is permitted, today.

(NIRAL R. MEHTA,J) CHANDRESH