HC notice to Union Finance ministry on selection of POs

Chandigarh, Mar 6 (UNI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice to the Union Finance Ministry on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed to seek directions for effecting changes in the selection criteria of the presiding officers (PO) of Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) and chairpersons for Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs).

The ministry has to file a reply by April 19 on the petition which was filed before the court's division bench of Chief Justice D K Jain and Justice Surya Kant.

The petitioner has said that the union government was trying to take away the independence of the DRTs by inducting serving bank officers as the POs of DRTs by taking them on deputation through backdoor method.

The government was thus paving the way for the elevation of such bank officers as the chairpersons of debt recovery appellate tribunals because the presiding officers of DRT, with three years of experience, is eligible for appointment as the chairperson of the DRAT.

He also submitted that the POs have a tenure of five years which is too short and the experience gained by them is not utilised by the system. The appointment, he prayed, should be till the retirement age of 62 years.

He also sought the maximum age for the DRAT chairperson to be increased to 68 years instead of present 65 because the appointed retired judges never complete their five years tenure after retiring from the high court at an age of 62 years.

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