Unified Chambers
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Unified Chambers and Associates — a partner-led team of advocates and associates — provides specialist Debt Recovery Tribunal representation in Siliguri, West Bengal. The firm is led by Senior Partner Adv. Subodh Bajpai (LLM, MBA XLRI). The firm practises before Debt Recovery Tribunals across India, including DRT Siliguri. Our team handles Original Applications under Section 19 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act 1993, interim attachment applications under Section 19(13), execution of Recovery Certificates, and DRAT appeals for clients in Siliguri and across West Bengal. The firm is panel-ready for empanelment by scheduled commercial banks, public-sector banks, NBFCs, ARCs, and Development Financial Institutions.
Banks, NBFCs, ARCs, and financial institutions in Siliguri seeking specialist DRT counsel engage Unified Chambers for a practice concentrated on debt recovery. The firm's advocates appear before Debt Recovery Tribunals across India, including DRT Siliguri, under Senior Partner oversight on every matter.
DRT Siliguri is the Debt Recovery Tribunal with territorial jurisdiction over Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and 1 additional districts. The tribunal operates under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 and hears Original Applications, Section 19(13) interim attachment applications, and Section 17 SARFAESI challenges filed within its jurisdiction. Siliguri and North Bengal matters are filed at DRT Siliguri, whose appeals lie to DRAT Kolkata. Siliguri is a major trade hub for North-East India and the border trade with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan creates unique trade finance NPA profiles.
DRT Siliguri exercises jurisdiction over Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and North Bengal. Identifying the correct DRT bench before filing is critical — a mismatch in territorial jurisdiction will result in return of the OA and wasted court fees. Unified Chambers verifies jurisdictional competency before filing any application.
Siliguri is India's gateway to the North-East and a transit hub for trade with Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh — and NPA enforcement here frequently involves trade finance loans secured against export receivables from these countries, where cross-border debt recovery requires coordination with foreign correspondent banks and cannot be resolved through standard SARFAESI domestic enforcement.
Bench
DRT Siliguri
2nd Floor, PCM Tower, 2nd Mile, Sevoke Road, Siliguri - 734001
Appeals lie to
DRAT Kolkata
9 Old Post Office Street, 7th Floor, Kolkata - 700001, West Bengal
Territorial jurisdiction
Siliguri · Darjeeling · Jalpaiguri · North Bengal
Every bench in India is listed in our DRT bench directory. Bench names and addresses as published by the Debts Recovery Tribunals, Department of Financial Services, checked 24 August 2026. Registries move — confirm with the registry before a filing.
Siliguri's NPA accounts at DRT Siliguri are primarily concentrated in cross-border trade finance, tea garden loans, real estate, logistics and warehousing. Understanding the local security profile — whether the primary security is immovable property, plant and machinery, or commodity stock — determines the optimal enforcement route between SARFAESI and RDDB Act proceedings.
Timelines at DRT Siliguri are planned from the statute, not from averages. The Act directs the Tribunal to make every effort to dispose of an application within 180 days of receipt (RDB Act s.19(24)); contested matters commonly run longer, and the firm gives a matter-specific estimate after reading the papers. An appeal to the DRAT lies within 30 days of receipt of the order (s.20(3)), on a pre-deposit of 50% of the debt as determined by the Tribunal, which the DRAT may reduce to not less than 25% for reasons recorded in writing (s.21). Interim attachment orders under Section 19(13) can be sought at the time of filing the Original Application. Unified Chambers manages the full proceedings lifecycle — from OA drafting and interim applications through to Recovery Certificate execution and auction.
Primary NPA Sectors in Siliguri
Statutory timetable: Statutory target: 180 days from receipt of the application (RDB Act s.19(24) — "every effort shall be made"); contested matters commonly run longer, and the firm gives a matter-specific estimate after reading the papers
An Original Application under Section 19 of the RDDB Act 1993 is filed before the tribunal within whose territorial limits the defendant resides or carries on business, or where the cause of action wholly or partly arose. Filing before the wrong bench invites a return of the O.A. for presentation to the correct tribunal, with the limitation clock still running. Areas within the territorial jurisdiction of DRT Siliguri:
Sitting at 2nd Floor, PCM Tower, 2nd Mile, Sevoke Road, Siliguri - 734001. Appeals from DRT Siliguri lie to the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal under Section 20(3) of the RDDB Act 1993, within 30 days of receipt of the order. Territorial rosters are periodically re-notified by the Central Government — verify the current allocation before filing.
Filing OAs under Section 19 RDDB Act before DRT Siliguri for recovery of debts of ₹20 lakhs or more. Drafting, filing, and arguing OAs for banks, NBFCs, and financial institutions in Siliguri.
Urgent attachment of borrower assets under Section 19(13) RDDB Act to prevent alienation. Pressed on an urgent basis at DRT Siliguri where a real risk of asset dissipation is shown.
Executing Recovery Certificates through the Recovery Officer. Attachment and sale of movable and immovable property of judgment debtors in Siliguri.
Filing and arguing appeals before the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal against adverse DRT orders. Cross-objections and stay applications for Siliguri matters.
Representing borrowers challenging SARFAESI possession under Section 17 before DRT Siliguri. Stay of e-auction, challenge to valuation, procedural defects.
Filing counter-claims by borrowers against bank OAs. Asserting set-off rights, challenging calculation of dues, and raising limitation defences at DRT Siliguri.
Unified Chambers and Associates is a partner-led practice whose core is debt recovery. Our Senior Partner, Advocate Subodh Bajpai (LLM, MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur), is enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi (D/3264/25) and is a member of the Delhi High Court Bar Association (No. 50612). The firm practises before Debt Recovery Tribunals across India, including DRT Siliguri.
Siliguri and North Bengal matters are filed at DRT Siliguri, whose appeals lie to DRAT Kolkata. Siliguri is a major trade hub for North-East India and the border trade with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan creates unique trade finance NPA profiles. Siliguri is India's gateway to the North-East and a transit hub for trade with Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh — and NPA enforcement here frequently involves trade finance loans secured against export receivables from these countries, where cross-border debt recovery requires coordination with foreign correspondent banks and cannot be resolved through standard SARFAESI domestic enforcement. For institutional creditors, the practical consequence is that defects in pleadings and annexures surface at the first listing, so the filing should be complete and correctly indexed from the outset.
Sector profile shapes attachment strategy at DRT Siliguri more than most creditors anticipate. Accounts concentrated in cross-border trade finance, tea garden loans, real estate present three distinct realisation pathways: SARFAESI Section 13(4) for clean secured immovable property, Section 19(13) attachment for movable plant, stock, and receivables, and Section 7 IBC for corporate borrowers whose default reaches the ₹1 crore threshold. The choice between these is not a matter of preference — it is dictated by the security profile. Our case-intake protocol classifies the asset structure before recommending the forum sequence.
Section 18 of the Limitation Act requires an acknowledgement of liability in writing, signed by the party, made before the period expires — and on Siliguri files that test is applied before the account is written off as time-barred. The acknowledgement does not need to be a fresh balance confirmation — an OTS proposal, a settlement letter, a restructuring request or a signed statement of account can each qualify on its terms. For accounts originating from the cross-border trade finance sector in Siliguri, the documentation pattern often includes guarantor renewals, security re-confirmations, and statement-of-account signatures that constitute fresh acknowledgements.
Forum coordination becomes the deciding factor on every substantial Siliguri matter. Where the corporate debtor's default reaches the ₹1 crore IBC threshold, Section 7 CIRP at NCLT runs on its own statutory timetable alongside the DRT route at DRT Siliguri — the Section 12 outer limit of 330 days, the moratorium under Section 14 IBC, and the *Essar Steel* (2019) commercial-primacy framework give financial creditors leverage that pure DRT proceedings do not match. We run the IBC track for the corporate debtor, a Part III application against the personal guarantors before the NCLT (which, where the CIRP is pending, must be the same bench — Section 60(2)), and the DRT recovery track at DRT Siliguri in parallel, with cross-pleaded references so neither proceeding prejudices the other.
To file a DRT case for a Siliguri matter, an Original Application (OA) under Section 19 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, 1993 must be filed before DRT Siliguri. The OA must contain a verified plaint with particulars of the debt, the default, security details, and relief sought. The bench is located at 2nd Floor, PCM Tower, 2nd Mile, Sevoke Road, Siliguri - 734001. Unified Chambers prepares, files, and argues DRT matters for banks and financial institutions in Siliguri. Call +91 84008 60008.
DRT Siliguri has direct jurisdiction over Siliguri and covers Siliguri, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Bengal. The DRT address is 2nd Floor, PCM Tower, 2nd Mile, Sevoke Road, Siliguri - 734001. For SARFAESI Section 17 challenges, the application must also be filed before the same bench.
The Act directs the Tribunal to make every effort to dispose of an application within 180 days of receipt (RDB Act s.19(24)); contested matters commonly run longer, and the firm gives a matter-specific estimate after reading the papers. A Section 17 SARFAESI application is itself to be disposed of within sixty days, extendable for reasons recorded to a total of four months (SARFAESI s.17(5)). Interim attachment orders under Section 19(13) can be sought at the time of filing. How long a given matter at DRT Siliguri takes turns on whether it is contested, whether the borrower files a Section 17 application, and the Tribunal's listing — the firm assesses that after reading the papers.
Yes. Under Section 19(13) of the RDDB Act, DRT Siliguri can order interim attachment of the defendant's assets — including bank accounts, movable property, and immovable property — before final judgment to prevent alienation or dissipation. Attachment before judgment is one of the most effective tools available at the DRT. The practice regularly seeks such orders at DRT benches across India, including DRT Siliguri.
The statutory minimum for filing an OA at DRT Siliguri is ₹20 lakhs under the RDDB Act, 1993. For claims below ₹20 lakhs, you must approach the Civil Court. Unified Chambers accepts DRT matters with a minimum claim value of ₹2 crore.
More Debt Recovery Services in Siliguri
Contact Advocate Subodh Bajpai for DRT proceedings in Siliguri and across West Bengal. Call +91 84008 60008 or reach us on WhatsApp.
Written by Advocate Subodh Bajpai, LLM, MBA (XLRI Jamshedpur)