Petitions In SC Seeking Contempt Of Court Proceedings Against RBI Governor

By OB Bureau On Jan 17, 2021

RBI governor — Pic courtesy: The New Indian Express

New Delhi: Multiple petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings and punishing Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and others for allegedly and willfully violating the apex court’s order/directions relating to loan moratorium case.

The Supreme Court, in its order on loan moratorium on September 3, 2020, had said the accounts that have not been declared non-performing assets (NPAs) as on August 31, 2020, cannot be declared as such until further notice.

The petitioners had filed their respective pleas through lawyer, Vishal Tiwari and Advocate-on-Record (AoR) Abhigya Kushwah, before the Supreme Court in connection with loan moratorium case, reported Hindustan Times.

They claimed that the RBI had allegedly declared the account of petitioners as NPA and thus flouted the stay order of the Supreme Court of September 3, 2020, and thereby committed contempt of court, and thus the apex court should initiate contempt of court proceedings against the bank regulator.

Tiwari submitted that since apex court’s order was flouted by many banks, borrowers suffered a lot.

A direction was sought from Supreme Court that the respondents – RBI and others — should grant a grace period of 90 days to the petitioner before declaring its account as NPA.

The petitions also said that the respondents are ‘duty-bound to promulgate the orders of this apex court throughout the country’, but did not do it deliberately.

The respondents’ act has shaken the confidence of people and degraded the trust of borrowers. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where all borrowers are passing through the worst scenario, this stay order was operational throughout the nation and was in public interest, the petitions stated.

The stay order was operating as the life-saving drug to the petitioner but the contemptuous act of the respondent has resulted in a major setback to the firm and its survival has become critical, the petitioners claimed.