Mr. Amardeep Kumar and Smt. Lakshmi Sathish vs The Davangere Urban Co-Operative Bank Ltd.

A.S. Bopanna, J.—The petitioners are before this Court assailing the possession notice dated 25.05.2013 issued by respondent No. 2 at Annexure-A to the petitions. The petitioners are also seeking for a direction to respondents No. 1 and 2 Bank authorities not to dispossess the petitioners without due process of law. The case of the petitioners is that they are neither the borrowers nor the guarantors in respect of the loan said to have been secured from the respondents No. 1 and 2-Bank. The petitioners are the tenants in respect of the premises in question under respondent No. 3. It is therefore contended that the petitioners cannot be dispossessed from the premises under the provisions laid down under Sections 13 and 14 of the SARFAESI Act. Since, the petitioners are in possession as tenants, they can only be evicted in accordance with law.

The respondents No. 1 and 2 have entered caveat. At the outset, it is contended that the respondent No. 3 is a purchaser of the property which had been mortgaged to them and under respondent No. 3, the petitioners claim to be the tenants and therefore the genuineness of the same requires to be adjudicated before the respondents accept petitioners to be the tenants in respect of the premises.

In that view of the matter, it is needless to mention that when these issues are to be decided, the appropriate remedy for the petitioners is to file an appeal u/s 17 of the SARFAESI Act as has already been held by a Division Bench of this Court in W.A. No. 4752/2011. In that view, the petitioners are relegated to the appellate remedy. However, taking note of the fact that the possession notice has already been affixed and there is a threat of eviction and if the petitioners are evicted before they approach the appellate tribunal, they would be prejudiced. Hence, the petitioners are granted two weeks time to file the appeal and move the same before the tribunal. In that view, the respondents No. 1 and 2 shall not evict the petitioners from the premises for a period of four weeks. In terms of the above, the petitions stand disposed of.