Advocate Commissioners’ fees in SARFAESI cases must be proportionate to the work involved, rules Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has disapproved of the practice of the Chengalpattu Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) fixing an uniform fees of ₹80,000 each to all the advocate commissioners appointed by him for taking possession of immovable properties under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.

Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan made it clear that the fee determined by judicial magistrates for advocate commissioners must be proportionate to the actual work involved, having regard, among other things, to the amount outstanding, the value and location of the secured asset, the number of properties covered by the warrant and the distance to be travelled.