Dwarikanath Baghel vs Authorized Officer-Cum
2023 Latest Caselaw 1393 Ori

            IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK

                      W.P.(C) No.3122 of 2023

       Dwarikanath Baghel                  ....    Petitioner
                              Mr. Bitas Kumar Swain, Advocate
                              -versus-

       Authorized Officer-cum-
       Chief General Manager,
       ICICI Bank, Bhanjaprava
       Building, Janpath,
       Bhubaneswar, District-
       Khurda & Another                        .... Opp. Parties
                                                               None

                           CORAM:
                          JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH
                          JUSTICE M.S. SAHOO

                               ORDER (Oral)

09.02.2023

Order No. (Hybrid Mode)

01. 1. Petitioner along with his wife-Mamta Baghel are stated to be co-borrowers in three loan accounts for the loans availed from ICICI Bank, Joda Branch, Joda, District-Keonjhar since October, 2017. To secure all the three loans, an immovable property owned by the petitioner has been offered as a collateral security by way of equitable mortgage in all the three accounts. Due to default in payment of installments, the three loan accounts were classified as NPA in September, 2022 leading to issuance of a demand notice dated 26.09.2022 under Section 13(2) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 (for short "the Act, 2002") recalling an aggregate outstanding liability of

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Rs.52,49,859/- in all the three accounts. Symbolic possession of the aforesaid immovable property has been assumed vide notice dated 06/10.01.2023 issued under Section 13 (4) of the Act, 2002.

2. Challenge in the present writ petition is to the aforesaid notice assuming symbolic possession with further prayer for directing the Bank to settle the loan through an OTS.

3. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner, we find nothing remiss in the notice assuming symbolic possession and also in the absence of any OTS Policy referred to be prevailing, no directions are warranted, more so in the light of a recent Judgment in Bijnor Urban Cooperative Bank Limited, Bijnor and others Vrs. Meenal Agarwal and others, AIR 2022 SC 56.

4. In view of the above, the writ petition is dismissed.

(Jaswant Singh) Judge

(M.S. Sahoo) Judge

AKK 9th February, 2023 Cuttack