DRAT Advocate
An appeal here is shaped as much by the deposit as by the grounds, and both have to be prepared together.
The position
The Appellate Tribunal hears appeals from orders of the Debts Recovery Tribunal. Two things distinguish it from an ordinary appeal: the period is short, and a borrower appealing against a measure taken under the SARFAESI Act must make a statutory deposit, which the Tribunal may reduce but not dispense with. An appeal filed without a plan for the deposit is an appeal that stalls.
When clients come to this chamber
- The Tribunal has dismissed your securitisation application.
- A recovery certificate has been confirmed against you.
- An order has gone against you on a point of law you want tested.
- The bank has appealed an order that was in your favour.
What the representation involves
- Appeal memoranda with grounds anchored in the record below, not in fresh assertion
- Applications for reduction of the pre-deposit, with the material to support them
- Stay applications pending the hearing of the appeal
- Defence of appeals filed by banks and asset reconstruction companies
- Advice on whether the appeal is worth bringing at all
The deposit is the strategy
An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against a measure taken under the SARFAESI Act is conditional on a deposit. The Tribunal may reduce the amount for reasons to be recorded, but it cannot dispense with it altogether. This single feature shapes the whole appeal: a borrower who files without a realistic plan for the deposit obtains an appeal number and nothing else, while limitation for other remedies quietly expires.
An application for reduction succeeds on material, not on pleading hardship. Valuation of the secured asset, the extent of security already in the lender's hands, amounts already recovered, and the borrower's demonstrable financial position are what a Tribunal weighs. Preparing that material takes time, which is why it is begun on the day the order below is received rather than on the day the appeal is drafted.
Grounds that work on appeal
An appeal is not a second hearing of the same argument. What persuades is error identified in the order below: a finding without material to support it, a statutory requirement treated as directory when it is mandatory, a document on the record left unconsidered, or a ground urged and never dealt with. Each of those is demonstrated by reference to a page of the record, and grounds framed without that reference read as dissatisfaction rather than error.
Where the Tribunal below declined interim protection and the property has since been sold, the appeal has to address what can still be done — setting aside the sale, or compensation — rather than pressing for a stay that events have overtaken. Appeals that do not adjust to what has happened since the order lose credibility early.
After the Appellate Tribunal
A writ petition to the High Court lies against an order of the Appellate Tribunal in limited circumstances, and beyond that a special leave petition to the Supreme Court. Both are narrow, neither re-examines the facts, and the prospects in each should be assessed honestly before the costs of a further round are incurred.
For many borrowers the more useful question at this stage is not how to appeal further, but what can still be salvaged: redemption if the sale has not been confirmed, objections to confirmation, the surplus after sale, or a negotiated closure that limits the personal liability that survives the security.
What clients want to know
Answered as they are answered on the telephone, without the hedging.
What is the pre-deposit?
A borrower appealing against a measure under the SARFAESI Act must deposit a proportion of the debt claimed. The Appellate Tribunal may reduce it for reasons recorded, but cannot waive it entirely. The exact figure depends on the statute and the amount in your matter.
How long do I have to appeal?
Thirty days from the date of the order, subject to the Tribunal's power to condone delay. That is short, and preparing the deposit alongside the appeal is why the first meeting should happen the same week.
Can I appeal further?
A writ petition to the High Court lies in limited circumstances, and beyond that a special leave petition to the Supreme Court. Both are narrow, and neither is a re-argument of the facts.