HC rejects plea against outgoing RBI governor

MUMBAI, November 20: The Bombay High Court today rejected an application filed by the `Forum for Justice’ President Madhav Deshpande seeking a stay on the proposed appointment of RBI governor C Rangarajan as the governor of Andhra Pradesh. Justice A P Shah and Justice J A Patil dismissed the intervening application on the ground that it was beyond the scope of the main petition. The applicant sought to intervene in an earlier petition filed by K N Gangoli, who had alleged severe irregularities committed by top Central Bank of India officials. Gangoli has made Rangarajan a respondent party for allowing the fraud to take place.

He had also alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation had deliberately kept the probe in abeyance. The judges opined they were not granting the relief because the criminal writ petition was pending before the High Court. However, the judges ordered the CBI to produce a status report within a week. RBI counsel Dhananjay Chandrachud urged the judges to award heavy costs to Deshpande for filing an application “solely to malign Rangarajan”. The judges said they can only orally condemn the press publicity. But they cannot pass any written order in this matter.