CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has pulled up a securitisation company under SARFAESI Act, for having engaged musclemen to take physical possession of an industrial unit. The firm was engaged by a bankA division bench comprising Justices D Murugesan and K K Sasidharan, disapproving of the forcible dispossession done by about 40 to 50 persons under the leadership of the agency, observed that this was not the way in which possession could be taken. “We cannot approve such forcible dispossession,” the bench said. The securitisation company, however, claimed that it had taken possession peacefully and that there was only one watchman present.The bench, pointing out that there were materials to prove that the company in question was a tenant on the premises, said it could be evicted only as per the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent) Control Act 1960.In case of resistance, it must approach the magistrate concerned and obtain an order under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act. “The securitisation company cannot be permitted to engage goondas to take possession of property,” the judges said.The bench said the securitisation company had taken the assistance of the secretary of the Poonamallee Criminal Court Bar Association for the reasons best known to them, and he had signed as a witness. Stressing that recovery process had to be in accordance with law, the bench said if any action was taken for recovery in violation of the guidelines or principles laid down by the Supreme Court, such an action could not but be struck down. It directed the securitisation company to restore possession of the property to Esteem Polimer, and appointed two advocate-commissioners to oversee the handing over of the property and machinery.
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