SC refuses to stay merger of Vijaya, Dena banks with BOB
New Delhi, Mar 28: Clearing the decks for the scheduled merger of three public sector lenders Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank and Bank of Baroda the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay the amalgamation.
The top court dismissed the applications filed by several bank officers' associations for staying the merger, effective April 1.
The proposed amalgamation will make Bank of Baroda, which will merge the other two lenders with itself, the second largest public sector bank after State Bank of India in place of Punjab National Bank.
A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Sharan said, "All interlocutory applications seeking stay are dismissed".
At the outset, senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for bank officers associations, said that there were several flaws in the decision taken for merger of three banks as there was no effective consultation or concurrence with the Reserve Bank of India on the issue.
He said that even the board of directors of the banks were not adequately constituted to take a decision of merger like this.
"The Board of Directors should have been informed and given time to contemplate on the proposed merger of the banks but every thing happened on January 2," Divan said.
He said that the board of directors passed a resolution on January 2, cabinet approved the decision on the same date and even the gazette notification was issued on the same day.
The bench asked Divan as how is he affected by the decision of merger of the banks.
He said that employees will suffer due to the merger as there will be an aspect of redundancy.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Bank of Baroda, said the merger was done within the statutory framework and all requisite procedure was duly followed.
"All the banks in question are public sector banks and as far as employees are concerned, under the scheme their terms and conditions of employment will remain the same. They are not affected at all. It was a policy decision that two weaker banks join one stronger bank," he said.
He said that as far as effective consultation with RBI is concerned, the process had started way back in September 17, 2018.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Union of India also opposed the plea of bank officers and said it was purely an economic policy decision taken by the government for which detailed consultation has taken place.
He said three committees were constituted, Parliament was informed and the RBI was consulted after which in principle consent was given.
"Everything was done in a purely transparent manner and this is an economic policy decision taken by the government," he said.
The bench then said it is rejecting all the applications seeking immediate stay of the decision to merge the three banks.
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K'taka Cong to protest against replacing MGNREGA, 'hate politics' in National Herald case
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the ruling Congress in the state will hold protests against the central government's move to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, and the alleged "hate politics" against the party leadership in the National Herald case on December 17.
The state Congress president said that the protest led by him and CM Siddaramaiah will be held in front of Gandhi state at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, and similar protests will also be held at all district and taluka centres of the state.
The party also plans to raise the issues in the state legislature here.
"The agitation has become necessary. Tomorrow at 9.30 am, the chief minister, myself, all ministers, MLAs and MLCs will stage a protest in front of the Gandhi statue. Everyone will participate," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the protests will also be held in all district and taluk centres including Bengaluru, and there is also a plan for a programme on Saturday, details of which will be shared later.
"In Assembly too there is a need to discuss this and for it to go into records, we are making preparations for it....the protest is against removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from MGNREGA, and against the hate politics towards Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders," he added.
The Congress' move, came as the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, that seeks to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid strong objections by the opposition to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name from it.
Also, a court in Delhi on Tuesday refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering charge against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and five others in the National Herald case.
Alleging that Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were "harassed" in connection with the National Herald case, Shivakumar said several people, including him, had given funds to help the party related organisation, and they too were being troubled.
"My brother D K Suresh (former MP) and I were supposed to appear before the Delhi police in connection with the National Herald case. We had written a letter to them seeking a FIR copy. Chargesheet was filed by ED in the case without an FIR," he claimed.
Pointing to the Delhi Court's decision, the Deputy CM said, "This is proof that the legal system in the country is still alive. This also proves that the power is being misused (by those in the central government) to harass political opponents."
Highlighting that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru started the National Herald in 1937, and that it is Congress' property, Shivakumar, questioning the validity of the ED case, said, "As Congress presidents (in past) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had their shares, it was not their own. Similarly, if we as Congress workers don't donate to the party organisation, who else will?"
Shivakumar also said that the move to rename MNREGA is with an intention to "insult" Gandhi and to weaken the scheme by reducing its funding.
