CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday directed the management in-charge of Baripada Urban Cooperative Bank to disburse the money of its depositors. The order brings a ray of hope for 72,324 depositors, who have been left high and dry since the RBI cancelled the bank’s licence on October 16, 2014. RBI had cancelled the licence after a statutory inspection revealed that the bank was in deep red, ceased to be solvent and any chance of its revival was next to impossible.
The bank had filed an interlocutory application (IA) seeking the Court’s direction for refund of money to the depositors during pendency of its main petition challenging the Centre’s order rejecting its appeal against the RBI direction.
The Single Judge Bench of Justice Pramath Patnaik issued the order after considering the acute financial plights of the depositors in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic along with submissions made on behalf of RBI and the State Government.
“To ameliorate the condition of the depositors, it is directed that the management in-charge, the additional district magistrate (ADM), Baripada shall take appropriate steps for disbursement of the amount of depositors on proper identification during pendency of the writ petition without prejudice to the rights of the respective claimants, if there is no legal impediment,” Justice Patnaik said in his order.
RBI counsel DN Mishra submitted that after cancellation of licence of the bank, it is responsibility of the liquidator/management in-charge to look into the grievances of depositors. The counsel for the Government Bibhu Prasad Tripathy submitted that the ADM is now management in-charge of the bank and he is the competent authority to disburse the amount to depositors.