The petitioners had approached the Supreme Court earlier this week, seeking redressal of certain aspects associated with the PMC Bank crisis
New Delhi: Today the Supreme Court refused to hear a plea filed on behalf of account holders in PMC Bank, which has been put under restrictions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) following the Rs 4,355-crore scam.
On behalf of the people, the plea was filed by Bijon Mishra whose money is blocked, it sought the lifting of restrictions on cash withdrawals that have been capped at Rs 40,000 for around a six-month period.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, “We are not inclined to entertain this petition under Article 32 (writ jurisdiction). The petitioner can approach the high court concerned for appropriate relief”.
Tushar Mehta Solicitor General said the government is aware of the seriousness of the situation and the Enforcement Directorate is taking appropriate action against the culprit.
Advocate Shashank Sudhi, appearing for petitioner Bejon Kumar Mishra, said he has filed the petition on behalf of 500 Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank account holders seeking lifting of restrictions imposed by the RBI on cash withdrawals.
The petitioners had approached the Supreme Court earlier this week, seeking redressal of certain aspects associated with the PMC Bank crisis.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had imposed regulatory restrictions on the bank under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act. These restrictions, a limit was placed on the amount that could be withdrawn by the bank’s customers. The current cap on withdrawal of Rs. 1,000 has been gradually increased to Rs. 40,000 over the course of the last two weeks.
The RBI’s move has caused “disastrous consequences” for depositors, the petitioner had also prayed that the notifications issued by the banking regulator under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioner had alleged that the Centre and the RBI had not taken any emergency steps towards the protection of the hard-earned money of around 15 lakh customers of PMC Bank.
The petition had also called for an overhaul in the functioning of co-operative banks and nationalized banks at a micro and macro level and for the issuance of guidelines to safeguard banking and co-operative deposits in the eventuality of an emergency financial crisis.
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