New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has slapped the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for leaving the depositors’ withdrawal request to PMC Bank, which is embroiled in a scam. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that the Reserve Bank has left the matter of depositors withdrawing Rs 5 lakh in case of emergency to PMC Bank. That is, it is up to the PMC Bank to decide what are the emergencies in which they have to distribute Rs five lakh.
The court said the PMC has been restrained by the central bank. In such a case, he should also decide about the emergency. After the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) scam of Rs 4,355 crore came to light, the Reserve Bank has imposed various restrictions on it, including withdrawals.
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Pratik Jalan said, “The Reserve Bank has to put its mind to it and it cannot function just like the post office. If you have a curb, you have to put your mind to it. You cannot take what PMC Bank will say as completely true. You cannot leave it to PMC Bank to decide who will withdraw the money. ” The bench said, “This is not satisfactory. You cannot leave the decision to PMC Bank. It has to be monitored in some way. It should be independent of the administrator appointed by the reserve. ”
The court gave this conclusion during the hearing on the petition of consumer rights activist Bijon Kumar Mishra. In his petition, Mishra has appealed to the Reserve Bank to direct that other needs of PMC Bank depositors such as education, marriage interest and bad financial condition be included in the emergency and withdraw only for critical medical needs. Not to be facilitated.
The court has given the Reserve Bank four weeks to respond to the petition. The next hearing in the case is set for January 4, 2021.
