The Delhi High Court has held that provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC-ST) Act, which deals with preventing wrongful occupation or eviction of land belonging to SC/ST community members, cannot be used to prevent a bank from exercising its legal mortgage rights.
Justice Sachin Datta made the observation while staying proceedings initiated by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes against Axis Bank, its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In his order passed on October 16, Justice Datta said, “Sections 3(1)(f) and (g) of the Prevention of Atrocities Act are not applicable in the case as they cannot be used to prevent the petitioner from exercising his mortgage rights.”
A person had filed a representation before the Commission alleging violation of the SC/ST Act. The Commission had ordered the bank’s MD and CEO to appear. Section 3(1)(f) of the Act provides for punishment for wrongfully occupying or cultivating land belonging to a member of the SC/ST community, while Section 3(1)(g) deals with punishment for wrongfully evicting a member from his land or premises.
Axis Bank had given a loan of Rs 16.69 crore to a company in 2013 by mortgaging a property in Vasai, Maharashtra. Following the borrower’s default, the account was declared a non- performing asset (NPA) in 2017 and the bank exercised its legal rights to take possession of the mortgaged property.
