JINDAL COCOA LLP vs RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Judgment text excerpt

F-J- WPL-8980-2024.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION (L) NO. 8980 OF 2024 1. Jindal Cocoa LLP 2. Vijay Jindal 3. Jayshree Vijay Jindal …Petitioners Versus 1. Reserve Bank of India 2. Union of India 3. Banking Ombudsman 4. HDFC Bank Limited …Respondents Mr. V. Sridharan, Senior Advocate, a/w Gopal Machiraju, Krusha Maheshwari, Ruchi Wagaralkar, i/b Sriram Sridharan, Advocates for Petitioners. Mr. Y.R. Mishra, a/w Upendra Lokegaonkar, Shailendra Y. Mishra, Advocates for Respondent No.2-UoI. Mr. Prasad Shenoy, a/w Parag Sharma, Aditi Pathak, Vijay Salokhe, Kirti Ojha, Megha More, Ankit Upadhyay, i/b BLAC & Co., Advocates for Respondent No.3. Mr. Mustafa Doctor, Senior Counsel, a/w Gaurav Mehta, Chaitanya Mehta, Amir Ali Shaikh, Tanjul Sharma, i/b Dhruve Digitally Liladhar & Co., Advocates for Respondent No.4. signed by ASHWINI ASHWINI JANARDAN JANARDAN VALLAKATI VALLAKATI Date: 2025.01.03 18:47:25 +0530 Page 1 of 65 January 3, 2025 Shraddha/Ashwini F-J- WPL-8980-2024.doc CORAM : B.P. COLABAWALLA & SOMASEKHAR SUNDARESAN, JJ. Reserved on : October 22, 2024 Pronounced on: January 3, 2025 JUDGEMENT: (Per, Somasekhar Sundaresan J.) 1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Respondents waive service. By consent, heard finally. Introduction: 2. This Petition essentially challenges the interpretation of the Reserve Bank of India’s Master Circular on Rupee/Foreign Currency Export Credit & Customer Service to Exporters , dated July 1, 2015 (“Master Circular”) by the Banking Ombudsman (Respondent No.3) appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (Respondent No.1, “ RBI”). The Banking Ombudsman dismissed the Petitioners’ grievance against the very same interpretation that had been taken by HDFC Bank Limited (Respondent No.4,