Case no. – SLP(C) No. 6897/2024
Case Title – Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited v. M/S Hotel Alpine Ridge and Ors.
The Supreme Court on Friday (August 2) called for the establishment of local Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Someday it has to done. Looking at the topography of Jammu and Kashmir, it has to be done”, the court said.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih was hearing a plea by a bank against the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court’s decision allowing challenges to actions under the SARFAESI Act to be made before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, until local DRTs are established. The J&K High Court had previously ruled that the absence of DRTs within the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh infringes upon the fundamental right to easy access to justice under Article 21 of the Constitution. The High Court emphasized that until such tribunals or benches are set up, litigants could invoke the writ jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 to challenge actions by financial institutions and banks under the SARFAESI Act.
