Hydrabad Debts Recovery Tribunal got ISO-9001 certification in 2004 itself

By J. Venkatesan

 For the first time in judicial history, a Debts Recovery Tribunal, 

a quasi-judicial forum, has been awarded ISO-9001 

certification here for adhering to quality standards and

disposing of cases relating to recovery of outstanding 

dues to banks and financial institutions.

 

The recipient of this prestigious award from 

Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, Judge of the Supreme Court,

was the presiding officer of Hyderabad DRT, T. Ravi Shankar. 

It became the first Tribunal in the country to get thiscertification. 

As on July 31, this DRT had recovered dues to the banks 

and financial institutions to the tune of Rs. 963 crores. 

The total outstanding amount due to banks is about Rs. 90,000 crores. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Justice Lakshmanan 

lauded the efforts of DRT Hyderabad for bagging 

this certification, which would enable it to discharge 

its functions more efficiently, and expeditiously in a transparent 

manner. 

He said such certification for a judicial forum would go 

a long way in ensuring quality standards in the justice 

delivery system and urged other DRTs to emulate DRT Hyderabad.

Mr. Ravi Shankar said in compliance with ISO 

requirements, the Tribunal had framed its quality 

policy, values and objectives. One of the objectives 

was to recover a sum of Rs. 200 crores in 2004-2005

and Rs. 300 crores in 2006-2007.

He said the ISOcertification also required that 

cases had to be disposed of speedily. 

The Joint Secretary in the Union Finance Ministry, 

P.M. Sirajuddin, said that the DRTs provided 

for expeditious adjudication and recovery of debts

due to banks and at present 29 DRTs were 

functioning all over the country and there were 

five appellate tribunals.

• Reference: Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004 The Hindu