KAUSTUV RAY Vs. IDBI BANK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed, challenging a notice dated June 16, 2021 sent to the petitioner to show cause as to why the petitioner should not be declared as a willful defaulter under the RBI Master Circular dated July 1, 2014.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the impugned notice was drawn in the form of a demand notice instead of a proper showcause notice. It is submitted that the said notice was issued in contravention of Clause 3, sub-clauses (a) and (b) of the RBI Master Circular.

(3.) Whereas the said sub-Clauses provide that the evidence of willful default should be examined by a committee, in the present case, there was no such independent application of mind by the Wilful Defaulter (WD) Committee for issuance of the show-cause notice. The said notice was a verbatim reproduction of a Transaction Audit Report (TAR) filed in connection with a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Proceeding (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (for short, "the IBC ").