Maragani Pavan Kumar v. 1. Union of lndia

3. lClCl Bank, R'"p. by its Chief Manager, lClCl Bank Towers, Financial Qist, Plot No tZ trtan'at<ramguda, Gachib6wli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032. 4. AXIS BANK, Rep by it-s Chief Manager Ground Floor, Sriven Mall, Miyapur Rd, J P Nagar, CG Employees Colohy, Mayuri Nagar, Miyapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500049.

5. HDFCBANK Limited, Rep by its Chief Manager PN 26; 33/A and 34/B_,-Gr Flr, Delta House, Sy No 68, Atlwyn Cross Road Miyapur, Hyderabad - 500049. Manager, DLF Cy6er City, Tower C, Block 2, Building 3 DLF lnfinity Towers,

6. SBI Cards and Payments Services Limited (SQi Card),-Bqp. by-its Chief . 12th Floor, Gurugram, HR - 122002. T. IDFC FIRST BANK Limited, Rep. by its Chief Manager Gqo_und Floor, Plot No 6-7, Survey No 68, Door No 1-121lKzl6-7, Nearby Athidhi Restuarant, Miyapur, Serilingampalle (M), Telangana 500049.

8. Bo'B finbncial S-olutibns Limiied, neF. by its Chief Manager, Behind Diwan Shopping Centre, 2nd and 4th Floor, Baroda House, S.V. Road, Jogeshwari, Mumbai, Maharashtra - 4OO102.

9. Union Bank of lndia, Rep. by its Chief Manager, 8'261, Ha.fgelpe! Rd, Allwyn X Road, lndra Reddy Aliwyri Colony, Hafeezpet, Miyapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500049.

10.Kotak-Mahindra Bank Limited, Rep by its Chief Manager, G2 and G4, Manisai Kalyan Arcade, Balaji Mandir Miyapur, X Road, Hyderabad, Telangana 500050

11.RBL Bank, Rep. by its Chief Manager Shop no 5:4ll! and 5-4111 Ground floor, Chanda Nag-ar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500050.

12. YES'BANK, Rep 6y its Cnief Manager Ground Floor, Shop No.1 1 , 77,. NH 65, Gouthami Naga'r Cblony, Jawahar eolony, Chanda Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana 500050. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstanr:es stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue an appropriate Writ, Order, or Direction. more particularly in the nature of V/rit of Mandamus, declaring the action of respondent Nos. 3 to 12 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 ol the Reserve Bank of lndia Circular dated 1210812022 bearing No. RBll2O22-231 108, DOR.ORG.REC.65i21.04.15812022.23, and further declaring the inactiorr of respondent No. 2 in enforcing the said Circular as unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India, and consequenily direct the respondent authorities to refrain from undertaking any coercive o' 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 12, their agents, recovery agents, e>:ecutives, managers, or any person acting on their behalf from engaging irr 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 petitioners 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 12 for violating legal norms, and pending disposal of the writ petition, direct the respondent Nos. 3 to 12 not to resort to :rny coercive measures against the petitioner except through lawful means anc in strict adherence to the Circular dated 1210812022. Counsel for the Petitioner :SRl BONTHU LOKESH PHANINDRA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No 1: SRI N BHUJANGA RAO, DEPUW SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA Counsel forthe Respondent No 12: SRI SUDHARSHAN NARAHARI Counsel for the Respondents No 2To 11: -- The Court made the following: ORDER THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No.28213 of 2025 ORDER: Heard Sri Bonthu Lokesh Phanindra, learned counsel for petitioner, Sri N.Bhujana Rao, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, for respondent No.l and Sri Sudharshan Narahari, learned counsel for respondent No.12. Perused the record.

2. When 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.S2OO of 2024, dated 25.04.2024 arr.td therefore, the sarne order may be passed in this writ petition as well. The operative p.ortion 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 2l of the Constitution of India, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the respondents, to ensure that the agents engaged by them for recovery of the loan amounts, shall strictly follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of lndia and also the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in ICICI Bank Ltd Vs. Prakash Kaur's case (1 supra) and ICICI Bank Vs. Shanti Devi Sharma's case (2 supra). 9. With the above said direction, the writ petition is disposed of." / ' .ii r j-{d ,,.d 2

3. Learned counsel for the respondents does not dispute the submissions of learned counsel for the petitioner.

4. In terms of the order passed by this court in w.p.No.5200 of 2024, dateil 25.04.2024, and for the reasons alike, this writ petition is disposed of directir-rg the respondent authorities to scrupulously follow the guidelines/instructions in the RBI circular dated 12.08.2022, and also the judgments of Hon'ble supreme court in rcrcl Banl: Ltd vs. Prakash Kaur and othersl and Icrcr Bank vs. Shanti Devi Sharma and othersz. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed SD/ . SRI M. JAWAHAR REDDY ANT //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To,

1. The: Secretary, Union of India, Ministry of Finance' 2. Tht: chief Generar Manager, Reserve Bank of tndia (RBl), 6, sansad Marg, Delhi New Delhi - 110001.

3. ONE CC tO SRI BONTHU LOKESH PHANTNDRA REDDY' AdVOCAtE [OPUC] 4.oneCCtoSRINBHUJANGARAo,DEPUTYSoLICIToRGENERALoF lNDlA, IOPUC]

5. brre cc to sRt SUDARSHAN NARAHARI, Advocate [oPUC] 6. T'ruo CD CoPies Dr\N BIVI\k t t2007) 2 sCC;'11 2 (2008) 7 scc :;32 I HIGH GOURT DATED:09/1 012025 ORDEFI WP.No,28213 of 2025 HES 1 J i E Ii-11 7l1?f, l,'r * DISPOS}ING OF THE WRIT PETITION OIUT COSTS ceR' ""4 hr" €