Delhi High Court: A petition was filed by Shabros Finvest Pvt. Ltd. (petitioner) seeking disposal of the impugned order dated 26-11-2018 issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the order dated 08.11.2019 passed by the Appellate Authority on the similar terms as the judgment passed by this court in Vishesh Credits Pvt. Ltd. v. Reserve Bank of India, W.P.(C) 4321/2021, decided on 12-12-2024. A division bench of Vibhu Bakhru and Tejas Karia, JJ., allowed the present petition, sets aside the impugned order dated 26-11-2018 passed by the RBI as well as the order dated 08-11-2019 passed by the appellate authority and remanded the matter to the RBI to consider the present petition as a representation and pass a fresh order.
The petitioner is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since 04-09-2001. The dispute arose in the backdrop of the RBI’s regulatory framework mandating all NBFCs to achieve a minimum Net Owned Fund (NOF) of Rs. 100 lakhs by March 2016 and Rs. 200 lakhs by March 2017, as notified in RBI’s Notification No. DNBR.007/CGM(CDS)-2015 dated 27-03-2015 and later gazetted on 11-03-2016. The petitioner claims to have complied with the NOF requirements before the cancellation of its registration by infusing funds and communicating this to the RBI. However, due to alleged non-service of the show cause notice issued by the RBI, the petitioner contended that the principles of natural justice were violated.
The RBI issued a show cause notice dated 13-07-2018 proposing cancellation of the petitioner’s registration for failure to meet the revised NOF threshold. The petitioner maintains that it did not receive this notice due to the RBI’s failure to update the company’s address, although the updated address was reflected in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) records. Despite this, the petitioner, upon learning of the issue, infused funds to meet the NOF requirement and intimated the RBI via letter dated 10-09-2018. Subsequently, the RBI sent an email on 24-09-2018 requesting a response to the show cause notice and additional documentation. The petitioner replied on 05-10-2018. Nonetheless, the RBI, in its order dated 26-11-2018, cancelled the company’s registration, treating the 10-09-2018 intimation as the reply to the show cause notice. The appeal filed before the Appellate Authority was dismissed on 08-11-2019, which formed the basis for the present writ petition seeking quashing of both orders.
The Court acknowledged the parity with previously adjudicated matters involving identical issues. It was noted that in those cases, the Court had deemed it appropriate to remand the matter to the RBI for reconsideration, particularly where the NBFC had achieved the NOF target either before or shortly after the issuance of the show cause notice but before the final cancellation order.
The Court recorded that the counsel for the RBI had no objection to the issuance of similar directions in the present case. Considering this consensus, and consistent with the legal position established in comparable cases, the Court found it just and expedient to adopt the same approach.
Thus, the Court allowed the writ petition, setting aside the impugned cancellation order dated 26.11.2018 and the appellate order dated 08.11.2019. The matter was remanded to the RBI for fresh consideration, with a direction to treat the writ petition as a representation and pass a reasoned order within six weeks. The petitioner was also permitted to submit further representation within two weeks of the date of the order.
[Shabros Finvest Pvt Ltd v. RBI, 2025 SCC OnLine Del 3878, decided on 29-05-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Mr Swarnendu Chatterjee with Ms Deepakshi Garg and Ms Harshita Rawat, Advocates for petitioner
Mr Ramesh Babu with Ms Nisha Sharma, Advocates for R1