Bank Of Baroda v. The State Of West Bengal And ORS.

ML 131 16.01.2025 Ct. 14 BP/AGM In The High Court at Calcutta Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side W.P.A 24241 of 2024 Bank of Baroda -versus State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Avishek Guha.

Ms. Somali Mukhopadhyay.

Ms. Debika Misra.

...For the Petitioner.

Mr. Kamal Mishra.

Mr. Pratap Sanfui.

Ms. Poushali Das.

... For the respondent nos. 3 to 7.

Ms. Sulagna Bhattacharya.

... For the State.

1. The application filed by the bank under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act is pending consideration till date.

2. The bank approached this Court on an earlier occasion by filing writ petition being WPA 7237 of 2023 which stood disposed of by the Court on 12th March, 2024 by directing the District Magistrate, Purba Bardhaman to dispose of the petitioner's application as expeditiously as possible but positively within three weeks from the date of communication of this order.

3. The time period to act in terms of the order passed by the Court expired long back. The District Magistrate is yet to dispose of the said application.

4. It has been brought to the notice of the Court that the next date fixed by the District Magistrate is 30th January 2025.

5. The mandate of law is that the application under Section 14 is to be disposed of within a period of 30 days and latest within a period of 60 days from the date of filing the same.

6. The Court has already fixed an outer limit for disposing of the said application. The District Magistrate ought to have disposed of the same within the specified date.

7. The instant writ petition is disposed of by directing the District Magistrate to take immediate steps for disposal of the application of the bank in accordance with law.

8. Urgent certified photocopy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties expeditiously on compliance of usual legal formalities.

(Amrita Sinha, J.)