In Brief
This landmark judgment resolves a conflict between high courts on whether Chief Judicial Magistrates (CJMs) in non-metropolitan areas can process secured creditors' applications to take possession of secured assets under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets Act, 2002. The Supreme Court held that CJMs are equally competent as Chief Metropolitan Magistrates and District Magistrates to do so. The Court reasoned that the inquiry under Section 14 is administrative, not adjudicatory, and CJMs exercise equivalent functions to CMMs under the Criminal Procedure Code. This purposive interpretation furthers speedy debt recovery while preserving borrowers' statutory appeal rights and judicial review. The decision approves High Court decisions from Kerala, Karnataka, Allahabad, and Andhra Pradesh and reverses contrary views from Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
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