In Capital First Ltd. vs The State of Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court has held that for the purposes of Section 14 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, the District Magistrate or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate is not a persona designata and the Additional District Magistrate or Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has the same judicial powers.
Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act requires the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or District Magistrate to assist a secured creditor in taking possession of secured asset.
It has been stated in the petition that in view of amended provisions of Section 14 of the Act, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or District Magistrate is required to pass suitable orders within 30 days from the date of application, which period could be extended not exceeding in aggregate 60 days.
However, when the high court directed the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to ‘endeavour to dispose of’ petitioner’s pending applications, the CMM stated in his reply that as on August 9, 2017, some 924 cases were pending under the SARFAESI Act. Out of these cases, 509 were filed in 2017. Thus, as per directions of the high court to give preference to old cases over the new ones, the applications are yet to be decided, the CMM’s reply stated.
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