loan defaulters

Bank of Baroda

advocates Sunil R Pandey

Abhishek S More

Pradnya S Surve

Initially, a part of the loan was given to the builder. More funds were not released because the builder did not complete any (construction) slab. An application was filed for recovery of over Rs 14 crore Advocate Sunil R Pandey

Company denies flats have been sealed

Ropes in 5 lawyers for the job to ease overburdened court’s workload.A weary legal process againstthat often takes weeks was reduced to only a day after a judge had a brainwave.Additional metropolitan magistrate Laxmikant Bidwai appointed five young lawyers as court commissioners to seal 101 apartments being constructed by an RNA Corp firm in Malad. The firm, Skyline Construction, is accused of not paying back over Rs 14 core to, according to a court order.All the 101 flats, in RNA Imperia complex, were reportedly locked up on March 9 under the supervision of, Manoj R Bachate,and Sapna H Jagtap. The five are members of the Esplanade Court Bar Association.The company denied on Monday the flats had been sealed.Usually, a court officer seals property in such cases. But had Bidwai again asked staff members of the overburdened court system to do the job, it would have taken several days.Bidwai said in his order that his court had been flooded with applications filed under a law that enables banks and other financial institutions to recover their money in cases of loan defaults. The law is called the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002. He observed that the court staff was already struggling with the huge workload and it would not be feasible to take possession of secured assets quickly.“In consultation with the Esplanade Bar Association, this court has prepared a list of advocates, who are budding lawyers and interested to work as court commissioners. No doubt the secured creditor [the bank] has to bear charges of court commissioner,” he said.The magistrate’s decision was influenced by the Bombay High Court’s view last year that roping in an officer from the Bar Association as a court commissioner would not prejudice the accused.In 2015, Bank of Baroda had approved a loan of Rs 55 crore for the RNA firm, which listed the 101 apartments as a secured asset. The funds were to be disbursed in phases as the project progressed.Bank of Baroda declared the RNA firm’s loan as a nonperforming asset and issued a notice under the said Act. The company apparently failed to respond within the stipulated period of 60 days, forcing the bank to take legal action.“It was a great experience to act as a court commissioner. So many applications are pending and this innovative method will definitely reduce the backlog,” Pandey said. “We faced a lot of resistance when we went to the location, but we managed to seal all the flats in a day.”The five lawyers were paid Rs 1 lakh each for the service.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RNA Corp spokesperson Yogesh Gupta denied the flats had been sealed. “The news is absolutely wrong Total amount disbursed was about Rs 22 crore, out of which about Rs 14 crore has been already repaid already. We have offered to pay the balance amount before March 31,” he said.