The judge was hearing a writ petition filed by Akula Venkata Chaitanya, who challenged the order by which the bank not only treated his loan account as an NPA but it classified him as “fraud”.
Hyderabad:Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court suspended an order passed by Indian Bank classifying the account of a businessman as non-performing asset as it was in violation of the principles of natural justice. The judge was hearing a writ petition filed by Akula Venkata Chaitanya, who challenged the order by which the bank not only treated his loan account as an NPA but it classified him as “fraud”. The petitioner contended that the bank’s action was illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional. The petitioner argued that the decision was taken without issuing prior notice, without granting him an opportunity to present his explanation, and in complete disregard of the mandatory procedures laid down in the RBI Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management dated July 15, 2024. These directions require banks to follow a structured mechanism, including preliminary examination, committee review, borrower communication, and adherence to due process before branding an account as fraudulent. It was contended that the impugned order severe civil and professional consequences for the petitioner, as classification as “fraud” leads to immediate freezing of accounts, denial of future credit facilities, and reporting to credit information companies. After hearing the submissions, the judge noted the seriousness of the allegations and the potential violation of natural justice principles. The judge suspended the impugned order and directed the respondents to file their response.
Bail given in ganja seizure case
Telangana High Court granted bail to an accused in a customs seizure case involving alleged possession of intermediate quantity of ganja. The judge was dealing with a criminal petition filed by Singh Gambhir seeking enlargement on bail. The petitioner was arrayed as accused in a case registered by the air intelligence unit, customs, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, relating to alleged possession of 9,200 grams of ganja said to have been found concealed in handbags of two passengers arriving from Bangkok. Counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner was innocent and was falsely implicated. It was further contended that 4,600 grams was attributed to him, which constituted intermediate quantity, and that he has been in judicial custody since October 26 with all material witnesses already examined, making further detention unwarranted. The judge observed that the seized substance constituted intermediate quantity. The judge also noted that the petitioner spent considerable time in judicial custody, and that a substantial portion of the investigation was completed. The judge deemed it fit to enlarge the petitioner on conditional bail.
State Welfare Fund under challenge
A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed the State Bar Council to issue notice to all advocates bar associations registered under it as well as advocates clerk associations, notifying the pendency of a writ petition challenging the vires of State Welfare Fund Act 1987. The panel compromising Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice S. Chalapathi Rao was dealing with a writ plea filed by Vijay Gopal challenging the provision of State Welfare Act which mandated that every vakalatnama must be affixed with a welfare stamp of `250. It was the case of the writ petitioner that the provisions violated his fundamental rights more particularly right to practice any profession. The petitioner appearing in party in person contended that the fee collected under welfare stamp went to the corpus from which members of state welfare fund were benefitted and since he is not a member of such fund or beneficiary, compelling him to pay the welfare fee would be unjust and arbitrary. On Thursday, Pujari Mani Sahit, an advocate, filed an implead petition contending that he was a beneficiary of that scheme as such he iwas just, proper and necessary party to the writ petition. Counsel appearing for the implead petitioner Mohammad Absar Ahmed contended that the writ petition was liable to be dismissed intra-alia for non-joinder of necessary parties. He argued that at the instance of a single individual the benefit to the legal community and the scheme cannot be set aside. The panel after hearing the parties at length noted that at-least Advocates Association or the Clerk Association should have been made parties in a representative capacity. The panel directed the State Bar Council to undertake the said exercise and posted the matter to February 5 for further adjudication.
