The High Court of Delhi decided to ponder upon a matter pertaining to the question of whether the centre can combine the jurisdiction of two or more states and hand it to a single tribunal. Also, they also agreed to take a response as to same from the centre. A plea had been initiated by Madhya Pradesh Lawyer’s body challenging the transfer of presiding officer of Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Jabalpur to Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Lucknow.
A Division Bench of Delhi High Court comprising Hon’ble Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the centre to reply by next August on the plea filed by the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh. The plea also asked to appoint a regular full-time incumbent presiding officer for DRT-Jabalpur. The contention of the Bar Council was that shifting the DRT to 600 km farther place would hinder the convenience of the litigants and be an expensive affair for them. The Council said shifting DRT Jabalpur to other states is clearly arbitrary, dehors the provisions of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. The counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that the DRT of MP was without a Head for one year and later on the same was shifted to another state. Also, due to the lack of a regular Presiding Officer, a huge pendency of cases had taken place and the government was ignorant about that.
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