Supreme Court to hear cooperative banks' case today

KOCHI: The Supreme Court will resume on Monday the hearing of the petition filed by the cooperative banks against the restrictions imposed on them by the Union government and Reserve Bank of India following  demonetisation. A division bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud has been hearing the petitions filed by a slew of cooperative banks and others.

The district cooperative banks have received a shot in the arm on the eve of the hearing with the NABARD reporting that it would submit a report in the apex court stating that the district cooperative banks are working as per the KYC norms. NABARD sources stated that they will also hand over the details of the district cooperative banks not following the KYV norms. According to the report,  NABARD has imposed a fine of Rs 270 lakh on 13 prominent district cooperative banks for their failure to submit the KYC norms.

The verdict of the apex court will have serious implications on the future of cooperative banks in the state. The observations made by the apex court on the first day of the hearing have created a positive impression in the minds of the leaders of the cooperative banks. The division bench observed that the restrictions imposed on the cooperative sector had  paralysed the rural economy as a large section of the rural population  has accounts in the cooperative banks.