MUMBAI:The Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate Court recently appointed a court commissioner to take over a large chunk of land at Nahur belonging to Nirmal Lifestyle Developers and Nirmal Lifestyle Malls to recover an outstanding loan of ₹1,179.41 crore
Chief judicial magistrate Archana K Mandavgade appointed advocate Pratik Surti as court commissioner to take possession of the properties, which together span about 193,000 sq.m. The land will be handed over to Phoenix ARC, an asset reconstruction company, a company that specialises in buying non-performing assets or “bad loans” and then recovering the money.
The court directed the commissioner to give a 15-day advance notice to all concerned parties before taking possession of the land. If needed, the advocate is allowed to use reasonable force, including breaking open locks, and can seek police assistance. Any items or documents found on the premises must be secured and handed over to Phoenix ARC’s authorised officer.
The order came on a plea filed by Phoenix ARC, which had taken over the loans originally given by L&T Finance to the two real estate firms by mortgaging the land parcels. The properties include 92,672 sq.m earmarked for development by Elevated Avenue Realty LLP, 36,911 sq.m handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 26,667 sq.m where the residential project Rejuve 360 is under development, 27,281 sq.m with a partially constructed mall, 9,469 sq.m in Sector II.
According to the plea, L&T Finance had given out loans worth ₹894.30 crore between July 2017 and February 2022. The loan account was later classified as a non-performing asset in December 2022, about six months after it was assigned to Phoenix ARC.
After earlier recovery efforts failed, Phoenix ARC issued a formal demand notice under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act in February 2025. The demand asked the borrowers to repay ₹1,179.41 crore within 60 days.
The ARC claimed that it took symbolic possession of the assets on April 25, 2025, but even afterwards, the loans remained unpaid. Phoenix ARC then approached the court seeking permission to take physical possession of the mortgaged properties to proceed with recovery.
Allowing the plea, the court appointed advocate Surti as court commissioner to take physical possession of the mortgaged properties. The court also directed Surti to complete the process quickly and submit a compliance report within 90 days.