Dentons Link Legal successfully obtained interim relief for the Reserve Bank of India in an appeal before the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising the Chief Justice and Justice Tejas Karia.
The appeal assails a judgment passed by a single judge of the Delhi High Court in a writ petition directing the RBI to implement a second-level human review for all complaints under its Ombudsman Scheme by legally trained personnel, such as retired judicial officers or lawyers with at least ten years' experience. This directive poses a substantial operational and financial challenge to the RBI's nationwide grievance redressal mechanism.
The Division Bench after hearing Shri Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India, who appeared for the RBI, was pleased to issue notice and grant an interim stay on the directions contained in the order of the Single Judge. The court observed that the directions issued by the Single Judge went beyond the court’s powers under article 226 of the Constitution of India.
The grant of an interim stay provides significant relief to the RBI, suspending the operation of the directions modifying the ombudsman scheme and directing filing of an affidavit of compliance. The stay preserves the operational integrity of a key regulatory function.
Dentons Link Legal represented the RBI and assisted the Solicitor General of India, Shri Tushar Mehta. The team comprised Abhinav Sharma (Partner), Dipan Sethi (Senior Associate), and Snehashish Bhattacharya (Associate).