Section 13(5) of the SARFAESI Act deals with the situation where any person who has acquired secured assets from the borrower makes payment to the secured creditor pursuant to a notice under Section 13(4)(d). What is the legal effect of such payment on the person making it?

Section 13(5) provides that any payment made by any person referred to in clause (d) of Section 13(4) to the secured creditor shall give such person a valid discharge as if he had made payment to the borrower. Section 13(4)(d) empowers the secured creditor to require any person who has acquired secured assets from the borrower, and from whom money is due or may become due to the borrower, to pay the secured creditor so much of that money as is sufficient to pay the secured debt. The valid discharge provision protects the third-party payer from being made to pay twice - once to the secured creditor and once to the borrower. This is a key debtor-protection provision in enforcement proceedings.