SC Refuses to Entertain Plea by PMC Account Holders for Lifting Restrictions on Cash Withdrawals

In a setback for depositors, Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain the plea of Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank account holders seeking lifting of restriction on cash withdrawals, news agency PTI reported. The apex court said that the account holders should seek relief from the relevant High Courts, the report added.

The RBI has placed limits on withdrawal of savings after it found out financial irregularities in PMC Bank’s functioning, hiding, and classification of loans given to HDIL. The restrictions from the RBI came in after it found the bank’s exposure to real estate developer HDIL was in too much in excess of what the regulations require and also as the lender hid the NPAs of HDIL.

PMC’s exposure to HDIL is around Rs 6,500 crore, which is 73 percent of its loan book of Rs 8,880 crore, as per the bank’s own admission.