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In a welcoming move, the Central Government has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the appointment of Presiding Officers in 18 Debt Recovery Tribunals across the country.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Sunday issued a notification in this regard with names of persons who will be appointed on the pay level of rupees 1,44,200-2,18,200 per month for a period of 4 years or till they attain the age of 70, whichever is earlier.

Here are the details of the appointment confirmed:

1. DRT, Jabalpur - Ram Niwas Patel, Retired District Judge (Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service)
2. DRT, Hyderabad-1 - Gummadi Gopichand, Retired District Judge (Andhra Pradesh Judicial Service)
3. DRT, Chennai-1 - A.S. Jayachandra, Retired District Judge (Delhi Higher Judicial Service)
4. DRT, Chandigarh-1 - Anand Sagar Narang, Retired District Judge (HCS- Judicial Branch)
5. DRT, Delhi-1- Basant Kumar Goswami, Retired District Judge (Superior Judicial Service, Jharkhand)
6. DRT, Chandigarh-2- Man Mohan Dhonchak, Retired District Judge (Judicial Department, Punjab and Haryana High Court.
7. DRT, Delhi-2- Rajesh Malhotra, District Judge (Haryana Superior Judicial Service)
8. DRT, Cuttack- Jitendra Prasad Singh, Retired District Judge (Bihar Judicial Service)
9. DRT, Guwahati- Shiv Sharan Dubey, Retired Principal and District Sessions Judge (Jharkhand Judicial Service)
10. DRT, Siliguri- Rakesh Pati Tiwari, Retired District Judge (Bihar Judicial Service)
11. DRT, Ernakulam-1- Su Willyahm, Retired District Judge (Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service)
12. DRT, Ahmedabad -1- Padam Singh Thakur, Retired District Judge (HP Higher Judicial Service)
13. DRT, Hyderabad-2- Dr. Baldev Singh, Registrar (Vigilance), High Court of Himachal Pradesh
14. DRT, Mumbai-3- Arun Kumar Singal, District Judge (Haryana Judicial Service)
15. DRT, Bengaluru-1- Imtiaz Ali, District and Sessions Judge (Assam Judicial Service)
16. DRT, Madurai- Kuldeep Kumar Kareer, Retired District Judge (Punjab Superior Judicial Service)
17. DRT, Visakhapatnam- Krishna Gopal Dwivedi, Retired District Judge (Bihar Judicial Service)
18. DRT, Ernakulam-2- Sovan Kumar Dash, Retired District Judge (Odisha Judicial Service)

Notably, earlier this month, taking a serious note of the vacant posts of Presiding Officer/Chairman of various Debt Recovery Tribunals and Appellate Tribunals, the Allahabad High Court sought a response from the Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India as to what is preventing the government from making these appointments.

The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh had remarked that, "If the Government is unable to appoint competent persons as Presiding Officers/Chairmen in D.R.Ts./D.R.A.Ts., then it is better that this enactment is scrapped and the tribunals are abolished".

Also, the Top Court in December last year had passed an order asking the high courts to take up cases filed under the SARFAESI Act in their writ jurisdictions. The court had passed this order in light of many Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) being non-functional owing to non-filling of vacancies.