฀eportable/Non-฀eportable ฀N THE DEBTS RECOVERY APPELLATE TR฀BUNAL AT KOLKATA HON’BLE MR. JUST฀CE AN฀L KUMAR SR฀VASTAVA CHA฀RPERSON ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Appeal฀฀No.฀47฀of฀2025 ฀(Arising฀out฀of฀S.A.฀No.฀450฀of฀2023฀in฀DRT-Visakhapatnam)฀

1. Kotak฀Mahindra฀Bank฀Ltd.฀4th฀floor,฀Block฀A,฀22฀Camac฀Street,฀

Kolkata฀–฀700016.฀

฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀

฀฀฀.…Appellant -Versus-

1.฀ M/s฀MD฀Developers,฀Madala฀Narendra฀Kumar,฀Managing฀Partner,฀

54-18/3-5C,฀ITI฀College฀Road,฀Sivapuram฀Colony,฀Vijayawada-520008.

2. Mr.฀ Vudutha฀ Rajendra฀ Prasad,฀ Door฀ No.฀ 1-8-17,฀ Zandachettu฀

Bazar,฀Gujjanagundia,฀Pattabhipuram,฀Guntur฀-522006.

฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀….Respondents Counsel฀for฀Appellants฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Mr.฀Prasenjit฀Pal,฀Ms.฀Jahan฀Ara฀Kulsum Counsel฀for฀Respondents฀฀฀฀฀Mr.฀Nemani฀Srinivas JUDGMENT : 16th December, 2025 THE APPELLATE TR฀BUNAL :

Heard฀the฀Learned฀Counsel฀for฀the฀parties฀and฀perused฀

the฀records.฀฀฀

2. Instant฀ Appeal฀ is฀ preferred฀ against฀ a฀ judgment฀ and฀ order฀ dated฀ 12^th฀ March,฀ 2025฀ passed฀ by฀ Learned฀ Debts฀ Recovery฀Tribunal฀Visakhapatnam฀in฀S.A.฀No.฀450฀of฀2023฀฀

฀Vudutha Rajendra Prasad versus Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and others)฀whereby฀Learned฀DRT฀allowed฀the฀S.A.฀No.฀450฀

of฀ 2023฀ and฀ set฀ aside฀ the฀ e-auction฀ Sale฀ Notice฀ dated฀ 24.07.2023฀ and฀ the฀ auction฀ held฀ by฀ the฀ Bank.฀฀ Further,฀ Learned฀DRT฀directed฀the฀Bank฀to฀refund฀the฀amount฀of฀the฀ auction฀ purchaser฀ with฀ 9%฀ interest฀ p.a.฀ from฀ the฀ date฀ of฀

payment฀of฀the฀amount฀till฀repayment฀within฀30฀days.

3. At฀the฀very฀outset,฀Learned฀Counsel฀for฀the฀Appellant฀ would฀submit฀that฀the฀Appellant฀is฀challenging฀the฀impugned฀ judgment฀only฀on฀the฀issue฀of฀award฀of฀the฀interest฀@฀9%฀ per฀ annum฀ by฀ the฀ Learned฀ DRT.฀฀ It฀ so฀ appears฀ that฀ the฀ amount฀ of฀ Rs.2,12,57,000/-฀ and฀ Rs.฀ 25,44,500/-฀ is฀ transmitted฀by฀the฀Bank฀in฀favour฀of฀the฀Auction฀purchaser฀ on฀05.05.2025฀which฀was฀received฀by฀the฀auction฀purchaser฀ without฀prejudice฀to฀his฀rights.฀฀ Now฀the฀only฀issue฀to฀be฀

looked฀into฀is฀regarding฀rate฀of฀interest.฀฀

4. Learned฀ Counsel฀ for฀ the฀ Appellant฀ would฀ submit฀ that฀ the฀Learned฀DRT฀erred฀in฀awarding฀the฀interest฀@฀9%฀per฀ annum.฀ Learned฀ Counsel฀ has฀ drawn฀ my฀ attention฀ towards฀ the฀ tender฀ notice฀ wherein฀ a฀ clause฀ is฀ there฀ where฀ it฀ is฀ mentioned฀ that฀ tenders฀ shall฀ not฀ be฀ entitled฀ to฀ claim฀ any฀ interest฀ of฀ whatsoever฀ nature.฀฀ Learned฀ Counsel฀ submits฀ that฀this฀clause฀is฀binding฀upon฀the฀auction฀purchaser฀as฀he฀ himself฀ accepted฀ the฀ terms฀ and฀ conditions฀ of฀ the฀ tender฀ documents.฀฀Accordingly,฀he฀is฀not฀entitled฀for฀any฀interest.฀฀฀ 5. Per฀contra,฀Learned฀Counsel฀for฀the฀Respondent฀would฀ submit฀that฀the฀auction฀sale฀is฀set฀aside฀by฀the฀Learned฀DRT฀ for฀violation฀of฀the฀statutory฀provisions฀of฀Rule฀8(6)฀&฀9(1)฀ of฀the฀Security฀Interest฀(Enforcement)฀Rules,฀2002.฀฀Amount฀

was฀deposited฀by฀the฀auction฀purchaser฀which฀was฀lying฀with฀

the฀Bank฀and฀auction฀purchaser฀is฀entitled฀for฀the฀interest.

6. Having฀gone฀through฀the฀records,฀฀ I฀found฀that฀the฀e- auction฀sale฀was฀set฀aside฀on฀the฀ground฀of฀violation฀of฀Rule฀ 8(6)฀฀of฀the฀Rules฀as฀the฀same฀was฀not฀served฀and฀published฀ by฀the฀Bank฀upon฀the฀Securitisation฀Applicant.฀฀Accordingly,฀ since฀ the฀ e-auction฀ sale฀ was฀ set฀ aside฀ on฀ the฀ ground฀ of฀ deficiencies฀ having฀ been฀ committed฀ by฀ the฀ Authorised฀ Officer฀of฀the฀Bank,฀then฀why฀and฀how฀the฀auction฀purchaser฀ should฀suffer?฀฀฀ Even฀if฀there฀is฀a฀condition฀in฀the฀tender฀ document฀ as฀ quoted฀ above,฀ this฀ is฀ a฀ case฀ of฀ absolute฀ negligence฀ of฀ the฀ Authorised฀ officer฀ of฀ the฀ Bank฀ in฀ conducting฀the฀e-auction.฀฀Law฀is฀well฀settled฀by฀the฀Hon’ble฀ Apex฀ Court฀ that฀ more฀ are฀ the฀ powers฀ provided฀ to฀ the฀ Authorised฀ Officer,฀ more฀ are฀ the฀ responsibilities฀ to฀ be฀ performed฀ by฀ him.฀฀ In CELIR LLP versus Bafna Motors ฀Mumbai) Pvt. Ltd. and Ors ฀2024) 2 SCC 1฀Hon’ble฀Apex฀

Court฀฀has฀held฀that-

“100. Bank is duty bound to follow the provisions of the law as any other litigant.