HC notice to Centre over removal of DRT presiding officer

Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana high court has issued notice to the central govt on a petition filed by former presiding officer of Debts Recovery Tribunal-2 (DRT-2), Chandigarh, M M Dhonchak, seeking directions to quash the Nov 18, 2025, order for his removal from office.The next hearing is on April 30.
According to the petition, an inquiry against him was approved on Aug 24, 2023, allegedly even before the issuance of a chargesheet. The petitioner claimed the order directing the inquiry was not communicated to him and that he came to know of it only when he was placed under suspension on Feb 13, 2024. A formal chargesheet was issued on Feb 26, 2024, about six months after the inquiry was ordered. The petition argued was the removal order was ante-timed and issued after the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, in the case titled "Madras Bar Association versus Union of India". The petition also alleged that the removal was based on an ex parte inquiry report that was never supplied to him and that no show-cause notice or opportunity of hearing preceded the decision. On merits, the petitioner submitted that the chargesheet essentially contained two allegations: rude behaviour towards advocates and the grant of long adjournments. According to the petitioner, no specific instance or date of alleged misconduct was cited, even though hybrid hearings were operational from June 2023 to Feb 2024, and no video evidence was produced. The absence of such material, he argued, rendered the allegation a "witch hunt". Regarding adjournments, he asserted that he was the highest-disposal presiding officer among 39 DRTs in the country and that his disposal figures exceeded the combined output of 10 tribunals. According to Dhonchak, who argued his case in person, the tribunal was handling around 12,000 cases, far above the 700–800 cases per DRT considered manageable in "Indu Kapoor versus AU Small Finance Bank" before the Delhi high court. MSID:: 129335777 413 |