The Bombay High Court is likely to take up the writ petition filed by Kotak Mahindra Bank on the issue of promoter shareholding norms by the Reserve Bank of India on Monday.

The last hearing of the case was on March 12, when the private lender had said it was willing to issue an undertaking to limit its promoter voting rights to 20 per cent until May 2020, as concentration of power with the promoter was the main issue for the banking regulator.

The court had, however, said the matter is not as simple, and had posted it for further hearing due to paucity of time.

Countering the RBI affidavit filed in the High Court, Kotak Mahindra Bank said: “The reply unfairly seeks to create an impression that the promoters’ interest is being furthered through the petition, and seeks to question the locus standi of the petitioners (the bank) in challenging the reduction communications.”

The RBI has told the Bombay High Court that the bank has petitioned the court, and not the promoters whose shareholding the central bank has asked to be lowered. The RBI’s decisions seek to regulate the shareholding rights of bank’s promoters, it had said. However, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, in an affidavit filed with the court, that if that is the case, “the RBI cannot take any action against the petitioner (the bank) in relation to these matters ( reduction of promoter shareholding)”.

The case relates to the issue of diluting promoter shareholding in the bank to 20 per cent by December 31, 2018, from close to 30 per cent at present. The RBI had said the issuance of perpetual non-convertible preference shares (PNCPS) by the lender in August last year did not meet its requirement.

Kotak Mahindra Bank had filed the writ petition on December 10 last year, and had sought validation on whether its issuance of PNCPS met the regulatory requirements.

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