BENGALURU : The High Court of Karnataka has rejected a petition filed by former MLA Anil H Lad questioning the sale of his mortgaged land in Jala hobli by a bank. The petition was filed nine years after the auction of the land, stating that he was not aware of the sale although he knew it well.
The petitioner (Lad) cannot wake up from deep slumber and begin to assert his right as and when he wants, said Justice M Nagaprasanna while dismissing the petition filed by Lad, questioning the Debt Recovery Tribunal’s (DRT) order, on the grounds of delay.
Anil Lad was a guarantor to the Rs 12.67-crore loan availed by M/s VS Lad and Sons from PNB in 2008 and his two acres of land at Shettigere village in Jala Hobli was offered as security. Later, the credit facility was modified as the value of the property offered for mortgage was assessed at Rs 8 crore.
The bank initiated proceedings under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, and finally, the land was auctioned in favour of M/s Universal Builders in 2014. Lad questioned it before the DRT, which dismissed the same in May 2015.
Although he was aware of it and without challenging the DRT’s order immediately, he moved the high court in 2024 alleging that the bank played fraud by keeping him in the dark without divulging the sale of land, and hence, his case be entertained without reference to any delay.