1 FARAD CONTINUATION SHEET NO. IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.996 OF 2010 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Office Notes, Office Memoranda of | Coram, appearances, Court’s orders | Court’s or Judge’s or directions and Registrar’s | orders orders | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. A.G. Talhar, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr.P.K. Joshi,Advocate, for respondent No. 1. CORAM : A.M. KHANWILKAR, AND S.S. SHINDE, JJ. DATE : 17TH FEBRUARY, 2010 Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of learned Counsel for the parties, the petition is taken up for final hearing at admission stage. Heard Counsel for the parties. 2. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India takes exception to the decision of the Presiding Officer, Debts Recovery 2 Tribunal, Aurangabad dated 27-01-2010 below Exhibit-15 (I.A.No.185/2009) in O.A. No. 14/2009. The said application was filed by the respondent bank seeking order of attachment before judgment in respect of the sugar stock lying in the petitioner's Factory/Godown and thereby restraining the petitioner from disposing the said sugar stock. The said application has been allowed by the Presiding Officer, in our opinion, without recording any tangible reason, which can be discerned from the impugned order. The relevant portion is reproduced thus : "I have heard the learned counsel for the applicant bank. The learned counsel for the Defendant Karkhana has filed the Written Notes Argument at Exh.25. I have also perused the pleadings of the present application, Exh. 15, alongwith documents, filed by the applicant bank and the Say, Exh.21, alongwith documents vide List, Exh.22, filed by the Defendant Karkhana. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the quantum of the 3 liability to be satisfied by the Defendants, this Tribunal considers it necessary to grant interim protection to the applicant bank as prayed for. In the result, the present application, Exh.15, deserves to be allowed. Hence, in the interest of justice, the following Order is passed. ORDER (1) Application, Exh.15, is allowed. (2) The sugar stock lying with the Defendants' Factory/Godown is hereby attached before Judgment. (3) The Defendants are hereby restrained from disposing of the said sugar stock until further order." 3. It is well established position that the order of attachment before judgment is a drastic order and cannot be passed as a routine order. The Court is required to analyse the relevant aspects and then form its opinion which could be recorded in order which has weighed with it to take recourse to such a drastic measures of attachment before judgment. In our opinion, said order 4 deserves to be set aside, and instead, the application for attachment before judgment Exh. 15 is restored to file of the Presiding Officer to be reconsidered on its own merits, in accordance with law. All questions in that behalf are left open to be considered, on its own merits. 4. Counsel for the respondent bank, however, submits that instead of examining application Exh.15, Presiding Officer be directed to dispose of O.A. NO.14/2009 expeditiously. It will be open to the respondent to make such application before the Presiding Officer, who will consider the same, keeping in mind the urgency pointed out by the respondent Bank. It will be open to the Presiding Officer either to expedite the hearing of the O.A. or to proceed with hearing of Exh.15 which has been restored to its file in terms of this order. 5 5. The petition is allowed accordingly. Rule made absolute on the above terms. ( S.S. SHINDE, J. ) (A.M. KHANWILKAR,J.) sut/FEB10/wp996.10