An auction purchaser is entitled to a refund of the deposited bid amount with interest if the sale is not concluded, the sale certificate is not issued, and possession of the property is not delivered.

ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA)

1. NOTICE to the respondent Nos.3 to 6- the borrowers is dispensed with since they have no subsisting lis in the subject matter of this writ petition.

2. The petitioner is the auction purchaser, who has filed this writ petition, seeking for issuance of a direction to the respondent– State Bank of India to refund the entire auction amount of Rs.9,79,084/- along with interest @ 18% per annum from 24.12.2008 till the date of actual payment. The prayer is also made seeking for compensation.

3. It is not in dispute that the bank had initiated the recovery proceedings by way of filing O.A. No.15 of 2019 before the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Ahmedabad. The Debt Recovery Tribunal accepted the said application and issued a recovery certificate and also permitted them to proceed against the properties of the judgment debtors, i.e. respondent Nos.3 to 6.

4. Pursuant to the recovery certificate, the properties of the judgment debtors, i.e. respondent Nos.3 to 6, were put to auction and in this public auction, conducted on 10.12.2008, the petitioner was the highest bidder offering a sum of Rs.9,79,084/-.

5. It is submitted that though the auction was conducted in 2008, the sale was not confirmed, sale certificate was not issued and the petitioner was not put in possession of the property though he had offered his highest bid.

6. As a consequence, this petition is filed seeking for a direction to the respondent Bank to refund the auction amount of Rs.9,79,084/-.

7. In a case where the auction was conducted in 2008 and the sale is not concluded even as of now, the auction purchaser, i.e. the petitioner herein, would definitely have acquired a right to seek for recovery of the amount which he had deposited with the DRT.

8. It is to be noticed here that the auction purchaser who is not a party to the present lis, offers his highest bid in order to purchase a property and if this sale is not concluded, he would have the definite right to recover the said amount.

9. In that view of the matter, the prayer sought for in the petition insofar as it relates to refund of the entire auction amount will have to be granted and it is accordingly granted.

10. It cannot be in dispute that the bank has utilized the amount deposited by the petitioner for all these years and, therefore, it would only be just and appropriate to direct the respondent bank to pay the interest @ 6% per annum from 24.12.2008 till the date of actual payment.

11. In the light of the above, the DRT, Ahmedabad shall proceed to re-auction the property and recover the proceeds.

12. The present writ petition is DISPOSED OF to the aforesaid extent.