Easy Access To Justice A Facet Of Right To Life: J&K High Court Allows SARFAESI Actions To Be Challenged Under Article 226 Till Local DRTs Are Established

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court, has ruled that the absence of Debt Recovery Tribunals within the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh violates the fundamental right to easy access to justice enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. “.We would hold that this Court would have jurisdiction to entertain petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to consider challenges to various actions initiated by the financial institutions/banks under the SARFAESI Act, in spite of the availability of alternative redressal forum at the DRT located in Chandigarh, as we consider this alternative forum to be inefficacious to the litigants in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh”. The court also lamented the difficulties faced due to the lack of domestic courts with jurisdiction following the State Reorganisation Act of 2019 which impacted cases handled under the SARFAESI Act and observed, “The pain and disappointment of the litigants in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh in depriving the domestic courts of jurisdiction under the SARFAESI Act at present are quite palpable.now the litigants are compelled to approach the DRT located in a far off place encumbered with numerous difficulties as discussed above, denying the comfort and convenience available to litigants where DRTs are established in their own States”. Highlighting the imperative of ensuring an effective and just implementation of the SARFAESI Act by providing litigants with a redressal forum that is not only accessible but also efficacious the bench emphasized that the establishment of local DRTs or alternative benches within Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh is crucial to mitigate the burdensome and expensive proceedings faced by litigants. “Unless the adjudicating forum is readily, easily and regularly available, it can prejudicially affect their right to easy access to justice which appears to be in the position in the present cases where a large number of petitioners have approached this Court alleging irregular/malafide/illegal acts on the part of the Banks/financial institutions by violating provisions of the SARFEASI Act”, the bench pointed.