The apex court did not grant any immediate relief to RBI on Monday when it sought clubbing of cases challenging the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act 2020 and their adjudication by the apex court.
It bears recalling that several petitions have been filed in the High Courts of many states that include Maharashtra, Chennai, Kerala, Karnataka and others.
Big Kanchipuram Cooperative Town Bank Ltd and the Velur Cooperative Urban Bank Ltd were the first to file petitions in Madras high court even before the bill became an Act.
The cooperative banks had even demanded a stay on operations of the provisions of the ordinance but the High Court had refused to give any respite on this.
Reserve Bank of India counsel argued that a cooperative society might be a state subject when it does other activities. The Act has been passed only to bring the banks under the banking regulations and protect the interest of the public.
There are more than 1,500 UCBs in the country handling over Rs 7.27 trillion of loans, primarily provided to agriculturists and middle-class people.