SC rejects DRT presiding officer's plea against order extending his suspension

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by a presiding officer of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Chandigarh, against an order extending his suspension.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing the plea of the petitioner, a retired judicial officer, against the July Delhi High Court order.

A division bench of the high court dismissed his plea against a single judge's order which rejected his petition against the second order of extension of his suspension from the post of presiding officer, DRT-II, Chandigarh.

The petitioner's counsel said the officer had one of the highest disposal rates in the DRTs.

"If you don't allow the lawyers to argue, you can decide all the cases everyday," the top court observed while dismissing his plea.

It came on record that the petitioner was appointed as the presiding officer, DRT-II, Chandigarh, on February 20, 2022 but multiple complaints were received from the DRT Bar Association against him.

The complaints were subsequently referred to the chairperson, Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT), Delhi, for appropriate consideration.

While the complaints were pending, members of the DRT Bar Association abstained from appearing before the presiding officer in protest.

It was also alleged instead of granting adjournments, several matters were proceeded ex-parte and dismissed by the officer.

Later, the DRT Bar Association filed a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the orders passed by the officer.

The high court in October 2022, while deprecating the lawyers for going on strike, restrained the presiding officer from passing any adverse orders.

The officer then challenged the high court's order before the apex court which in December 2022 modified the order and permitted him to proceed further with hearing of matters before him and decide them on merits.

The high court's division bench said the DRAT chairperson in a preliminary report highlighted the officer's improper behaviour with the members of the bar besides the prima facie defeating of the purpose of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 by adjourning the cases to 2026.

Later, following an inquiry, a search-cum-selection committee, in a meeting held in November 2023, recommended his suspension.

Based on the recommendation, the presiding officer was placed under suspension in February 2024 with the suspension being extended later.

The officer moved the Delhi High Court challenging the order extending his suspension.

He argued before the high court that he was being penalised for doing his work diligently and claimed only because he was unwilling to accommodate lawyers, false accusations were filed against him. PTI ABA ABA AMK AMK AMK