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UCO Bank v. Saumyendra Roy Choudhury & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 4820 of 2016)Decided 5 May 2016
Civil Appeal No. 4820 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. The Calcutta High Court passed an interim mandatory injunction that deemed the first respondent elected as a shareholder director of a nationalised bank pending trial. The bank appealed, contending that he was disqualified because he was over age and had already served two terms.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. On 5 May 2016 the Court said it was dealing only with an interim order, would not go into the merits of the contentions, and proceeded on a prima facie basis. It set aside the High Court's interim order and remitted the question of the respondent's fit and proper status to the Bank's nomination committee for a fresh decision. It also directed the Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court to decide Civil Suit No. 212/2013 within six months.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on whether the respondent is eligible to be a director of the bank. That is to be decided afresh by the nomination committee, within four weeks of the order, and in the pending civil suit.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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