The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur reprimanded the Tehsildar of Govindpura, Bhopal, for inordinate delay in executing a lawful order passed under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002.
In the present case, the Equitas Small Finance Bank sought enforcement of possession of a secured asset based on the Additional Collector’s order dated 23 July 2024.
The Bench comprising of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Dinesh Kumar Paliwal expressed serious concern that despite directions to take possession and hand over the property to the creditor with police assistance, the Tehsildar issued the first notice only on 5 March 2025 i.e. eight months later, and failed to act further until the High Court intervened. Noting that the Tehsildar only resumed action after the Court warned of presuming collusion with the debtor, the Bench expressed that such repeated administrative laxity, amounts to a breach of duty and undermined judicial authority.
The Court further directed the Chief Secretary to circulate the order to all Collectors, who in turn must ensure Tehsildars comply with orders under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act within 30 days. Failure to do so should attract departmental action.
Further, the Court ordered the Collector of Bhopal to institute an enquiry against the Tehsildar, Shri Dilip Kumar Chaurasiya, for dereliction of duty, with a report to be submitted within three months. Simultaneously, the Lokayukta has been asked to investigate whether the Tehsildar possesses assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, based on a prima facie inference of corruption.
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