Supreme Court Transfers All Writ Petitions Challenging Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 2020 To Madras High Court

The Supreme Court transferred all writ petitions which have been filed before various High Courts challenging the validity of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 2020 to the Madras High Court.

"Since the petitions which are transferred have been instituted before diverse High Courts in the country, it would be appropriate if the Division Bench hearing the petitions permits such of the parties, who desire to appear through a virtual platform, to participate in the course of the hearing on that basis", the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli observed in the order allowing Transfer Petitions filed by the Reserve Bank of India.

The court noticed that writ petitions in this matter are pending before the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Punjab and Haryana, Uttarakhand, Allahabad, Rajasthan and Bombay. 

"In some of the writ petitions before the High Courts, there is a challenge to the Amending Act; in some, a challenge to the validity of the circular, while, in others, a challenge to the Amending Act and the circular. Having regard to the common questions which are involved in the writ petitions, it would be appropriate, in the interests of justice, to transfer all the writ petitions to one High Court for final disposal...We accordingly order and direct that all the writ petitions which have been filed before the High Courts challenging the validity of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act No 39 of 2020) and/or the circular dated 25 June 2021 shall stand transferred to the High Court of Madras ", the court observed.

The court added that any future petitions challenging the validity of the Amending Act and/or the circular, upon being instituted, shall be transferred immediately by the concerned High Court to the High Court of Madras.

 Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020

The stated object of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 is to 'protect the interest of the depositors and regulate functioning of Cooperative Banks by bringing them under regulatory framework of Reserve Bank of India.'

The contentions raised are mainly that (1) the takes away the legislative power of States under item 32 in List II in the 7th schedule of the Constitution and whether it is liable to be declared as unconstitutional. Another contention (2) Part IXB of the Constitution of India has been struck down by the Supreme Court of India in Union of India Vs. Rajendra N. Shah and thus the basis of promulgating Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 has been struck down by the Supreme Court of India.

Case details 

Reserve Bank of India vs Big Kancheepuram Cooperative Town Bank Ltd | 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 850 | Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos 659-678 of 2022 | 14 October 2022 | Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli

Headnotes  

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 - Transfer Petitions filed by RBI - All the writ petitions which have been filed before the High Courts challenging the validity of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 2020 and/or the circular dated 25 June 2021 shall stand transferred to the High Court of Madras.

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