SARFAESI Section 17 DRT Appeal for Borrowers 2026

If your bank has already taken symbolic or physical possession of your property under Section 13(4) of the SARFAESI Act, you fight back by filing a Section 17 application, called a Securitisation Application, before the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) within 45 days of the measure. The DRT can examine whether the bank followed the law and, if not, can declare the action invalid and restore your possession.

This guide picks up after the bank has acted. If you are still inside the 60-day window after a Section 13(2) demand notice and the bank has not yet taken possession, start with the earlier-stage guide first: How to respond to a SARFAESI demand notice.

Once the 60 days lapse and the bank moves under Section 13(4) (taking possession, appointing a manager, or issuing a sale or auction notice), your remedy shifts to the DRT under Section 17. That is what this page covers, including the onward appeal to the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT) under Section 18.

A Section 17 application is the borrower's statutory challenge to the bank's enforcement action. The DRT does not re-decide whether you owe the money. It checks one thing: whether the bank's measures under Section 13(4) were taken in accordance with the SARFAESI Act and the rules. If the bank cut a corner, the DRT can undo the action.

The remedy lives in Section 17 of the SARFAESI Act, 2002.

• Who can apply: Section 17(1) says “Any person (including borrower), aggrieved by any of the measures referred to in sub-section (4) of section 13 taken by the secured creditor” may apply to the DRT. So guarantors and other affected persons can also file.
• Time limit: the application must be made “within forty-five days from the date on which such measure had been taken.” This 45-day clock runs from the date of the measure you are challenging, not from when you received any document.
• Which DRT: Section 17(1A) lets you file where the cause of action arises, where the secured asset is located, or where the bank branch maintaining the account is situated.
• What the DRT checks: Section 17(2) directs the Tribunal to “consider whether any of the measures referred to in sub-section (4) of section 13 taken by the secured creditor for enforcement of security are in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.”
• What relief is possible: under Section 17(3), if the DRT finds the measures were not in accordance with the Act, it “may, by order” declare the recourse to those measures invalid and “restore the possession of secured assets or management of secured assets to the borrower,” and pass any other appropriate direction.
• How fast: Section 17(5) requires disposal “within sixty days,” extendable for recorded reasons, but the total pendency “shall not exceed four months.”
• Procedure: Section 17(7) says the DRT disposes of the application following the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 (the RDB Act).

This is the single most damaging misunderstanding. Lodging a Section 17 application does not freeze the sale by itself. There is no automatic stay in the Act.

The DRT may grant interim relief, such as staying an auction, but only on a separate application and only after hearing the matter. The substantive power in Section 17(3) to restore possession arises only after the Tribunal finds the bank's measures were not in accordance with the Act. So if you want the auction paused while your case is heard, you must specifically ask the DRT for interim orders. Treat the auction date as live until the Tribunal says otherwise.

Many borrowers are wrongly told they must deposit half the loan to even approach the DRT. That is false. The heavy pre-deposit belongs to Section 18, the appeal to the DRAT, not to the initial Section 17 application.

• A Section 17 application before the DRT carries only a graded application fee set by the rules (under the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002), calculated on the amount of debt. Different fees may be prescribed for a borrower and for other applicants. It is a court fee, not a deposit, and is not a flat figure. Confirm the current slab with your DRT before filing.
• A Section 18 appeal to the DRAT is different. Under the second proviso to Section 18(1), “no appeal shall be entertained unless the borrower has deposited with the Appellate Tribunal fifty per cent of the amount of debt due from him, as claimed by the secured creditors or determined by the Debts Recovery Tribunal, whichever is less.” The DRAT “may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, reduce the amount to not less than twenty-five per cent.”

So: small graded fee to enter the DRT under Section 17; large deposit only if you lose and appeal to the DRAT under Section 18.

1. Note the trigger date. The 45-day clock starts on the date of the measure under Section 13(4) you are challenging, such as the possession notice or sale notice. Diarise the deadline immediately.
2. Gather the record. Collect the loan agreement, account statements, the Section 13(2) demand notice, your Section 13(3A) representation and the bank's reply, the possession notice or panchnama, and the sale or auction notice.
3. Identify the grounds. Common grounds are wrong amount claimed, no reply to your Section 13(3A) objection, defective notice service, undervaluation of the property, or procedural breaches of the enforcement rules.
4. Pick the correct DRT. Use Section 17(1A) to choose a tribunal with jurisdiction, usually where the asset sits.
5. Draft the Securitisation Application. State the parties, the impugned measures, the grounds, and the relief sought, including restoration of possession.
6. Pay the graded fee. Calculate the application fee on the debt amount per the rules and your DRT's schedule.
7. File a separate stay or interim-relief plea if you need the auction paused, because filing alone does not stop it.
8. Appear and prove your grounds. The DRT decides on the facts and may grant or refuse relief.

• Loan agreement and statement of account showing the claimed dues
• Section 13(2) notice, your Section 13(3A) reply, and the bank's reasoned response
• Possession notice or panchnama, and the sale or auction notice with valuation
• Proof of any payments made after the notice and applicant identity proof

• Missing the 45-day window. The limit in Section 17(1) is strict; do not assume delay will be excused.
• Believing filing stops the sale. It does not; you must seek interim relief separately.
• Confusing the fee with a deposit. The 50 per cent deposit is a Section 18 DRAT requirement, not a Section 17 DRT one.
• Skipping the Section 13(3A) representation earlier. A clean objection record under Section 13(3A) strengthens your DRT grounds.
• Filing in the wrong tribunal. Use the Section 17(1A) jurisdiction rules.

If the DRT rules against you, Section 18(1) allows an appeal to the DRAT “within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order.” This is where the 50 per cent deposit applies, reducible to not less than 25 per cent for written reasons. Courts have held the DRAT cannot waive the deposit entirely. Plan your finances for this before you appeal.

You have 45 days from the date the bank took the measure under Section 13(4) that you are challenging, as fixed by Section 17(1). The clock runs from the date of the measure, so act quickly once you see a possession or sale notice.

No. There is no automatic stay. The DRT may grant interim relief, such as staying the sale, but only on a separate application and after hearing. Until the Tribunal orders otherwise, the auction date stands.

No. The 50 per cent deposit applies to a Section 18 appeal before the DRAT, not to the initial Section 17 application at the DRT. The Section 17 application carries only a graded application fee based on the debt amount under the enforcement rules.

Under Section 17(3), if the DRT finds the bank's measures were not in accordance with the Act, it may declare them invalid and restore possession or management of the secured assets to you, plus pass any other appropriate direction. It decides on the facts and may also refuse relief.

Not in this proceeding. Under Section 17(2) the DRT only checks whether the enforcement measures followed the Act and rules. The quantum of the debt is a separate question; the DRT focuses on the legality of the bank's action.

• Section 17, SARFAESI Act, 2002: “within forty-five days from the date on which such measure had been taken” and Section 17(2) and 17(3) relief powers.
• Section 18, SARFAESI Act, 2002, second and third provisos: “fifty per cent of the amount of debt due” reducible “to not less than twenty-five per cent.”
• Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002, for the graded application fee.

• Responding to a SARFAESI demand notice (earlier stage)
• The RTI Playbook
• RTI Wiki home

This article is general information about the SARFAESI Act and DRT procedure, not legal advice. Statutory limits and tribunal practice can change and turn on the facts of each case. Confirm the current fee schedule and your deadline with your DRT, and consult a qualified advocate before filing.