Any civil suit is barred under the SARFAESI Act.

Section 17(1) of the SARFAESI Act provides as under:

“17 (1) Any person (including borrower), aggrieved by any of the measures referred to in sub-section (4) of section 13 taken by the secured creditor or his authorised officer under this Chapter, may make an application alongwith such fee, as may be prescribed to the Debts Recovery Tribunal having jurisdiction in the matter within forty-five days from the date on which such measure had been taken:

Provided that different fees may be prescribed for making the application by the borrower and the person other than the borrower.

Explanation : For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the communication of the reasons to the borrower by the secured creditor for not having accepted his representation or objection or the likely action of the secured creditor at the stage of communication of reasons to the borrower shall not entitle the person (including borrower) to make an application to the Debts Recovery Tribunal under this sub-section.

The provision make it clear that ‘any person’ aggrieved by any of the measures referred to in sub Section (4) of Section 13 of the SARFAESI Act can file application before the Debt Recovery Tribunal or any person other than borrower. Therefore, the remedy lies before the Debt Recovery Tribunal. Thus, any civil suit is barred under the SARFAESI Act.