Recently, in a detailed order examining the interplay between property rights under financial law and protections under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Delhi High Court has held that the provisions of the Act cannot be invoked to prevent a bank from exercising its lawful mortgage rights.
Justice Sachin Datta made the prima facie observation while staying proceedings initiated by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) against Axis Bank, its Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer. The Court stated, “Prima facie, in the context of the facts of the present case, Sections 3(1)(f) and (g) of the Atrocities Act are not attracted inasmuch the same cannot be invoked to preclude/prevent the exercise of mortgage right/security interest of the petitioner.”
The case arose from a Rs. 16.69 crore credit facility sanctioned in 2013 by Axis Bank to Sundev Appliances Ltd., secured by a mortgaged property. Upon the borrower’s default, the loan account was classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2017, prompting the bank to enforce its rights under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI).
Amidst subsequent civil disputes over the ownership of the mortgaged property, one of the claimants lodged a complaint before the NCST alleging violations of Section 3(1)(f) and Section 3(1)(g) of the SC/ST Act. These provisions criminalize the wrongful occupation or cultivation of land and the wrongful dispossession of property belonging to a member of the SC/ST community. Acting on the representation, the Commission summoned the MD and CEO of Axis Bank to appear personally before it.
Terming such action without jurisdiction, the Court stayed the proceedings and the summons issued by the NCST. The order records, “Also, the proceedings pending before respondent no.1 [National Commission for Scheduled Tribes], particularly, the summons issued therein which requires the MD & CEO of the petitioner [Axis Bank] to appear before the respondent no.1, are without jurisdiction. No rationale has been recorded for requiring senior officials of the petitioner to appear personally before the respondent no.1.”
The matter will next be taken up for hearing on February 5, 2026.
Case Title: Axis Bank Limited Vs. National Commission For Scheduled Tribes & Ors.
Case No.: W.P.(C) 16123/2025
Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sachin Datta
Advocate for Petitioner: Sr. Adv. Satvik Varma, Advs. Manmeet Singh, Alok Shanker, Anugrah Robin Frey, Shantanu Parmar, Ajay Raj, and Balram
Read Order @Latestlaws.com
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