High Court · 2025

THE HONOURABLE SRI J USTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETI TION N O:261 040 F 2025 Between: xiiirilF:lU{ill'dll*srtf? * js+8",f*I]thr}['zi:lr - ivlalkaigiri District, I etanga Rudhra Bhuvi pally, lrledchal PETITIONER AND

1. Union of lnCia, Represent by it's Secretary' Ivlinistry of Finance' New Delhi- 2. ReSerVe Bank of lndia (RBl), Rep^resent by its Chief General Manager, 6, ' sr"ilJrt'rars' New Detni - tt0oot 3. Baiai Finance Ltd' Rep by its Chief ryn"'9':'-9lt"nd No 77, Vinavak *'g5f rIiltJ ri'glr. d'"tiioowli Hvderabad' Telangana Floor' Gachi Plaza' Plot s00032 4 TATA CAPITAL, Rep bv its Chief Ygn'SP! 'i]ln Floor Tower A Peninsula Business p"rt' can['i'1"'"K;;;; ii;tg:Lower Parel' Mumbai' Maharastra - poonawatla Fincorp. Re-P DV ils chief Hlan9g91Jl1]-Roxana Towers' office No G-1 to G-4 Grouno t'o''l iiioll"'"rj iiioituoio, Telangana 5ooo 1 6 ' Greenlands Besumpet' '\'lzitirat

400013. 5 .....RESPONDENTS Petition Under Article 226 oI lhe Constitution of lndia praying that in the the High Court maY be ircumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith ' Pie ased to issue an appropriate Writ' Order' or Direction' more Particularly in the nature of Writ of lr4andamus' declaring the action of respondent Nos 3 to 5 in attempting to recover amounts from the petitioner in an arbitrary' illegal' and high- handed manner without following the due process of law and in blatant violation of the Res rve Bank of lndia 6i1sul61 clated 1208.2022 bearing No. RBlt2O22'231 108, DOR ORG.REC.65/21 .O4.15812022-23, and further declaring the inaction of respondent No. 2 in enforcing the said Circular as unconstitutiona I and violative of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of lndia, and consequently direct the respondent authorities to refrain from undertakrng any coercive or unlawful recovery measures against the petitioner and to strictly comply with the due process of law and the aforesaid Circular in all recovery proceedings, and further restrain respondent Nos. 3 to 5, their agents, recovery agents, executives, managers, or any person acting on their behalf from engaging in any acts of intimidation, harassment, humiliation, or intrusion into the privacy of the petitioner or his family members, referees or friends, including persistent or anonymous calls, threatening messages, or physical visits to the petitioner's premises, and further direct respondent No. 2 to enforce the said RBI Circular in letter and spirit and to initiate appropriate and stringent action against the errant officials of respondent Nos. 3 to 5 for violating legal norms, and pending disposal of the writ petition, direct the respondent Nos. 3 to 5 not to resort to any coercive measures against the petitioner except through lawful means and in strrct adherence to the Circular dated 12.O8.2022. Counsel for the Petitioner : SMT THAKUR MANASWINI SINGH Counsel for the Respondent No.1 : DEPUTY SOL|C|TOR GENERAL OF tND|A Counsel for the Respondent Nos.2 & 4 : - Counsel for the Respondent No.3 : SRI R.MANGULAL Counsel for the Respondent No.S : SMT K.RAMYA The Court made the following ORDER THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No.26LO4 of 2025 ORDER: Heard Sml, Thakur Manaswini Singh; .learned .counsel for petitioner, Sri R.Mangulal, lea'ned counsel for respondent No'3 and Smt K.Ramya, learned counsel for respondent No.S' Perused the record.

2. Wtren the matter is taken up for hearing, learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the issue raised in this writ Petition is squarely covered by the order passed by this Court in W'P'No'52O0 of 2024, dated 25.04.2024 and therefore, the same order may be passed in this writ petition as well' The operative portion of the said \ order reads as under: "8. For the aforesaid reasons and as the procedure adopted by the respondent Nos.4 to 7 for recovery of loan amount from the petitioner, amounts to violation of the rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 2 I of the Constitution of India, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the respondents, to ensr.rre that the agents engaged by thern for recovery of the loan amounts, shall strictly follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of India and also the judgments of the Honble Supreme Court in ICICI Bank Ltd Vs. Prakash Kaur's case (1 supra) and ICICI Bank Vs' Shaati Devi Sharma's case (2 supra). g. Wi*r the above said direction, the writ petition is disposed of." 2

3. [rarned Stalding Counsel does not dispute the submissions of l l,earned counsel for the peti [ioner.

4. In terms of the order passed by this Court in W.p.No.520O of 2024, dated 25.04.2024, ald for the reas:ns alike, this ri.rit petition is disposed of directing the respondent authoiities to scrupulously follow the guidelines/instructions in the RBI Circular dated

12.08.2022, and also the judgments of Hon,ble Supreme Court in ICICI Bank Ltd Vs. Prakash Kaur and othersl and ICICI Bank Vs. Shanti Devi Sharrna and others2. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed. 112007l.2 scc 711 2(2008}. 7 SCC 532 //rRUE COPY// SD/-A.H.S. GOWRI SHANKAR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR G SECTION OFFICER New Delhi - 1 '10001 .

1. The Secretary, Union of lndia, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. 2 The Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of lndia (RBl), 6, Sansad lvlarg, 3 The. Chief Manager, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Ground Floor, Gachi plaza, plot No . L!.VlqVai5_Nagar, lndira Nagar, Gachibowti. Hyderabad. Tetangana 500032. 4. The Chiefllanager, TATA CAPITAL, l lth Floor, Tower A, peniniula B^u9qn9ss Park, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Farel, Mumbai, [/aharastra _ 400013 5 The Chief lt/anager, Poonawalla Fincorp, No.7, Roxana Towers, Office No.G- ].tq C-1 G.rolnd Ftoor, Btock_'B, 1-24t1iRT, Greentands, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Telangana 500016. 6 One CC to SRt THAKUR lr44l\tAsrylNlstNGH, Advocare [opuc] 7 one CC to DEpUTy SoLtCtTOR GENERAL OF tNDtA, 8. One CC tc SMT K.RAMYA, Advocate (oPUC) 9 One CC to SRt R IVIANGULAL, Advocate (OP'UCI 10. Two CD Copies ^'dvo"-rG 1OeUCl To MSA BS f c) { +{ t- STi.Ia ? 0tT zffi c-. .\ t" a'::,: ,.',, HIGH COURT DATED:2410912025 ORDER WP.No.26fi4 of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE W.P WITHOUT COSTS. ,/) UYrl t0