Plea Challenging Levy Of Interest On Loans During Lockdown: SC Asks SG To Take Instructions From RBI , Centre [Read Order]

Sanya Talwar

8 May 2020 3:51 PM GMT

  • Plea Challenging Levy Of Interest On Loans During Lockdown: SC Asks SG To Take Instructions From RBI , Centre [Read Order]

    In a plea before the Supreme Court on Friday which sought to challenge on levy of interest on loan amounts during moratorium period as stipulated in RBI's March 27 Notification, the Centre stated that it shall obtain instructions.A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul & BR Gavai permitted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta time to seek instructions on the issue."Shri...

    In a plea before the Supreme Court on Friday which sought to challenge on levy of interest on loan amounts during moratorium period as stipulated in RBI's March 27 Notification, the Centre stated that it shall obtain instructions.

    A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul & BR Gavai permitted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta time to seek instructions on the issue.

    "Shri Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General is present in the Court. He seeks time to take instructions. List after two weeks" - Supreme Court

    Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta appeared for the petitioner(s) in the petition which challenged the RBIs notification in terms of its purview pertaining to levying of interest on loans during lockdown as being antithetical to Article 21 of the Constitution.

    The petition contends that the purpose of imposition of moratorium during lockdown to alleviate the problems faced by common people topples on account of subsistence of interest.

    "Direction declaring a impugned portion of Notification dated 27.03.2020 issued by the Respondent No.2 as ultra vires to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period, which creates hardship in the present scenario of complete national lockdown being extended from time to time due to covid-19 outbreak" - The plea states.

    Purporting to the rationale of the instant plea and that he is an "aggrieved party", it is averred that the "Petitioner herein is availing a facility of Home Loan of amount Rs. 37,48,000/- from the ICICI Bank and due to the lockdown and its consequential restrictions imposed by the Government of India, no work can be carried out and thus, Petitioner has no income and is not in a position to pay off his Home Loan EMI".

    In this backdrop, the plea enunciates the outright "capriciousness" and "arbitrariness" of the RBI notification as it imposes a burden on borrowers like the Petitioner, thereby violating principles of natural justice, upon which the law stands.

    The matter has now has been listed after two weeks.

    Click Here To Download Petition

    Click Here To Download Order


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