Injunction

Specific Relief Act, 1963 — Sections 37–42; Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order XXXIX

A court order restraining a party from doing a particular act (prohibitory injunction) or compelling a party to do a specific act (mandatory injunction). In debt recovery disputes, borrowers often seek injunctions to restrain banks from proceeding under SARFAESI. Section 34 of the SARFAESI Act bars civil courts from entertaining any matter the DRT is empowered to determine and provides that no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of action taken or to be taken under the Act; the borrower's remedy is a Section 17 application before the DRT.

In practice, an injunction is the relief borrowers most often seek to halt recovery and the relief banks most often resist. Under the Specific Relief Act, 1963 (Sections 37-42) and Order XXXIX of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, a borrower may ask a civil court to restrain a bank from proceeding under SARFAESI — but Section 34 of that Act provides that no civil court has jurisdiction over any matter the DRT is empowered to determine and that no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of action taken or to be taken under the Act; the borrower's remedy is a Section 17 application to the DRT. The practical lesson for a borrower is forum: a civil-court injunction against SARFAESI enforcement runs into the Section 34 bar, so the genuine challenge belongs before the DRT, where interim protection can be sought on proper grounds. For a creditor, an adverse interim order can freeze possession and sale, so vacating it quickly is a priority. Parties choose the correct tribunal and plead a real triable issue rather than seeking a reflexive stay.