The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, adjourned the hearing in the writ petition filed by Kotak Mahindra Bank against the RBI to March 12.

This comes after senior RBI counsel Venkatesh Dhond sought more time to file their affidavit in response to the writ petition. Kotak Mahindra Bank, represented by senior counsel Harish Salve, agreed to the request.

The private sector lender had, on December 10, filed a writ petition with the Bombay High Court on the Banking Regulation Act, and had sought validation on whether its issuance of Perpetual Non-Convertible Preference Shares (PNCPS) in August meets the requirements of lowering the promoter stakeholding set by the RBI.

The bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices BP Dharmadhikari and Sarang V Kotwal had taken up the matter for hearing on December 17, and had given time to the RBI till January 17 to file its response. It had not given any interim relief to Kotak Mahindra Bank, and had refused to grant a stay on the deadline set by the regulator.

The RBI had earlier said it did not meet its requirements to lower the promoter holding to less than 20 per cent from the current 30 per cent by December 31, 2018. The bank, in its plea, had sought that the High Court quash and set aside the RBI directions to dilute promoter stake. 

It also prayed the court to declare that the reduction of promoter shareholding shall stand complied with, if it is achieved as a percentage of the paid-up capital and not the paid-up voting equity capital of the bank.

Shares of the private sector lender gained 1.24 per cent and closed at ₹1,220.10 apiece on the BSE on Thursday.

 

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW