Facing E-Auction, Durg Tractor Borrowers Get 20 Working Days to Approach DRT as Chhattisgarh HC Bars Coercive Steps

The petitioners challenged the respondent lender’s e-auction notice dated 13 October 2026 and symbolic-possession notice dated 20 July 2026 concerning mortgaged assets securing an unpaid loan.

They alleged, among other things, that the demand notice preceded the loan’s NPA classification and that the lender had received substantial payments; they also sought consideration of a repayment and restructuring proposal.

The e-auction was scheduled for 18 November 2026.

The petitioners said the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Jabalpur was not functioning and that they lacked an effective remedy. The State responded that DRT-2, Ahmedabad had been assigned DRT Jabalpur’s cases.

The petitioners were directed to approach DRT-2, Ahmedabad, which was acting in charge of DRT Jabalpur.

The Court proceeded under the SARFAESI Act framework, under which a borrower may challenge enforcement measures by filing a Securitisation Application before the competent DRT.

It treated DRT-2, Ahmedabad, which had been assigned DRT Jabalpur’s cases, as the forum available to the petitioners.

The order cites no particular statutory section or precedent; it does not determine the merits of the petitioners’ challenges to the lender’s actions.

Although the petitioners relied on the alleged non-functioning of DRT Jabalpur and the imminent auction, the Court accepted that DRT-2, Ahmedabad had been assigned DRT Jabalpur’s cases.

It also noted the petitioners’ stated willingness to pay and that their settlement application had been dismissed.

Rather than adjudicate the disputed NPA dates, payments, or legality of the notices, the Court directed the petitioners to pursue the Tribunal remedy and granted a temporary restraint to permit them to do so.

No coercive steps were to be taken against the petitioners during that 20-working-day period.