Reserve Bank of India v. 1. Reliant Credits India Ltd. & Anr.
Case brief
What is this about?
The Division Bench set aside a single judge's ad-interim order that stayed the RBI's cancellation of an NBFC's Certificate of Registration. The Bench held the Letters Patent Appeal was maintainable because the interim order bore the trappings of finality by effectively granting the substantive relief sought. It ruled that the single judge failed to apply the settled principles for interim relief—strong prima facie case, balance of convenience, and irreparable injury—and did not give due deference to the regulator's expert findings that the NBFC's management was prejudicial to public interest. The NBFC was permitted to continue day-to-day banking and loan recovery, so no irreparable injury arose. All merits of the writ petition were left open for the single judge to decide expeditiously.
What did the court decide?
The impugned ad-interim order staying the Cancellation Order and Appellate Order is set aside. The single judge is requested to decide the Interim Relief Application finally and expeditiously. All rights and contentions of the parties are left open for adjudication.