WP/6125/2026 of Kondeti Siva Nageswara Rao Vs Union of India on 25 March 2026

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION NO:6125 OF 2026 Eetween: Kondeti Siva Nageswara Rao, C/o Kondeti Sambaiah, Age. 34 Years, Occ. Private Employee, R/o Plot No. 21, Haripriya Nilayam, Vayuputra Residency, Pragathi Nagar, Nizampet, Medchal - Malkajgiri, Telangana - 500090. .....PETITIONER AND

Union of lndia, Represent by its Secretary, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi. Reserve Bank of lndia (RBl), Represent by its Chief General Manager, 6-1- 65, Secretariat Road, Saifabad, Hyderabad - 500004. SBI Cards and Payments Services Private Limited, Rep. by its Principal Nodal Officer, DLF lnfinity Towers, Tower C, 1Oth-12th Floor, Block 2, Building 3, DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon -122002 (Haryana). RBL Bank., Rep. by its Regional Nodal Officer D.No. 6-3-865, Ground Floor, Home Jupally, Opp. to Green Park Hotel, Green Lands, Hyderabad - 500016. HDFC Bank Limited, Represented by its Nodal Officer 8th Floor, HDFC Bank House, Road No.1, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034. BOBCARD Limited, Rep. by its Principal Nodal Officer, 2nd Floor, Baroda House, Behind Dewan Shopping Center, S.V. Road, Jogeshwari (West), Mumbai- 4OO 1O2. IDFC FIRST Bank Limited, Represented by its Nodal Officert-10-63/1/1, Veer Chambers, Chikoti Gardens, Begumpet, Hyderabad - 500016. Axis Bank Ltd., Represented by its Nodal Officer Hyderabad Circle Office, Abhinandan Towers, 6-3-24913, Road No.'|, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500034.

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9. Navi Finsery Limited, Rep. by its Grievance Redressal Officer 2nd Floor, Vaishnavi Tech Square, lballur Village, Begur Hobli, Bengaluru, Karnataka - 560102.

10. lncre<l Financial Services Limited,'Rep. by its Principal Nodal Officer, Unit No. 1203, 12lh Floor, B Wing, The Capital, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai - 400051, Maharashtra. 1 1. Federal Bank, Rep. by its Principal Nodal Officer, Service Quality Department, Federal Towers, P.B. No 103,1 Aluva, Kerala, lndia, 683101

12. YES [3ANK, Rep. by its Principal Nodal Officer, YES BANK House, Off Westorn Express Highway, Santacruz East, Mumbai - 400055

13. Bajaj Finance Limited, Rep. by lts Principal Nodal Officer A-wing 2nd Floor, Mantri Business Park, Viman Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra - 411014. .....RESPONDENTS Petition Under Article 226 of the Constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstanc,:s stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to i:;sue an appropriate Writ, Order, or Direction, more particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of respondent Nos. 3 to 13 in attempting to recover amounts from the petitioner in an arbitrary, illegal, and high- handed manner without following the due process of law and in blatant violation of the Reserve Bank of India Circular daled 1210812O22 bearing No. RBll2O22-231 108, DOR.CRG.REC.65/21.04.15812022-23, and further declaring the inaction of respondent l{o. 2 in enforcing the said Circular as unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of lndia, and consequently direct the respondent authorities to refrain from undertaking any coercive or unlaMul recovery measures against the petitioner and to strictly comply with the due process of law and the aforesaid Circular in all recoriery proceedings, and further restrain respondent Nos. 3 to 13, their agents, recovery agents, executives, managers, ()r any person acting on their behalf from engaging in any acts of intimidation, harassment, humiliation, or intrusion into the privacy of the petitioner or his family members, referees or friends, including persistent or anonymous calls, threat()ning messages, or physical visits to the petitioner's premises, and further direcl respondent No. 2 to enforce the said RBI circular in letter and spirit and to initiate appropriate , and stringent action against the errant officials of respondent lJos. 3 to 13 for violating legal norms, and pending disposal of the writ petition, direr:t the respondent Nos. 3 to l3 not to resort to any coercive measures against the petitioner except through lawful means and in strict adherence to the Circular daled 1 21O812022.

Counsel for the Petitioner : SR! NAKKA KIRAN KASH counsel for the Respondent No.1 : SMT N.V.R.RAJYALAKSHMI, SC FOR CENTRAL GOVT Counsel for the Respondent Nos.2 to 5 : ' Counsel for the Respondent No.6 : SRI B.SRIHARI Counsel for the Respondent Nos.7 & 8 : - Counsel for the Respondent No.9 : SRI D.JAYASIMHA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.10 & 11 : - Counsel for the Respondent No-12 : SRI R.MANGULAL The Court made the following ORDER

IN TIIE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE H.ONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAI{A WRIT PETITION N0.6125 of 2o26

25. O3.2026 Between: Kondeti Siva Nageswara Rao ...Petitioner AND The UniorL of lndia, Represented by its Secret"ry, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi &, 12 others 'RDER: "'ResPondents Hearc Sri Nakka Kiran Kash, learned counsel for the petitioner, Smt NVR Rajyalakshmi, learned Standing counsel for central (iovernment appearing for respondent No.1, sri B.srihari, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.6 and sri Damera Jiryasimha Reddy, learned counsel for respondent No.9. Perused th.e record.

2. None appeared for remaining respondents.

3. whe, the matter is taken up for hearing, rearned counsel for petitioner submitted that ttre issue raised in this Writ petition is squarely covered by the order passed by this court in w.P.No.18j?L3 of 2024, dated 22.og.2o24 and,therefore, the same order may be passed in this writ petition as well. The operative portion of the said order reads as under: "8. In view of the above circulars, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the respondents to ensure that the agents engaged by them for recovery of the loan amounts, shall strictly follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of tndia and also the judgrnents of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in ICICI Bank Ltd Vs. Prakash Kaur's case (1 supra) and ICICI Bank Vs. Shanti Devi Sharma's case (2 supra). g. With the above direction, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs."

4. Learned counsel for respcndent Nos.l, 6 & t have no objection.

5. Accordingly, in terms of the order passed by this C<lurt in W.P.No.1B913 of 2024, dated 22.08.2024, and for the reasons alike, this writ petition is disposed of directing the respondent authorities and their agents to scrupulously follow the guidelines/instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of India in its Circular dated 12.08.2022 anci also the judgments of Hon'ble Supreme Court in ICICI Bank Ltd. v. Prakash Kaur'ls case and ICICI Bank v. Shanti Devi Sharma'2s case, while recovering the loan amounts from the petitioner. No costs. 1(2007)2SCC7LL , (2008) 7 scvw

\\ Pe:eding miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed SD/-P.PONNA KRISHNA ASSISTANT REGISTRAR /ffRUE COPY// ECTION OFFICER

1. The SecretarY, Union of lndia, MinistrY of Finance, N Delhi

2. fhe C:hief General Manager, Reserve Bank of lndia (RBl), 6-1-65, Secretariat Road Saifabad, HYderabad - 500004

3. The F'rinciPal Nodal Officer, SBI Cards and PaYments Services Private Limiterd, DLF lnfinitY Towers , Tower C, 10th-12th Floor, Block 2, Building 3, DLF CYber City, Gurgaon -122002 (Haryana)

4. RBL llank , Rep. bY its Regional Nodal Officer D.No. 6-3-865, Ground Floor, Home: JuPallY, OPP. to Green Park Hotel, Green Lands, HYderabad - 500016.

5. The llodal Officer, HDFC Bank Limited, 8th Floor, HDFC Bank House' Road No.1, Banjara Hills, HYderabad - 500 034.

6. The F'rinciPal Nodal Officer, BOBCARD Limited, 2nd Floor, Baroda House, Behind Dewan Shopping Center, S.V. Road, Jogeshwari (West), Mumbai- To 400 102.

7. The t,lodal officer, lDFc FIRST Bank Limited, 1-10-631111, Veer Chambers, Chikoti Gardens, begumpet, Hyderabad - 500016'

8. The t.todat Oficeipiil e"nk Lid., Hyderabad.Circle Office' Abhinandan Tow€fs, 6-g-Z4gii,Road No.1, BaniiraHills, Hyderabad - 500034.

9. The (jrievance ii"biu.iur Officer, NLvi Finsery Limited, 2nd Floor' Vaishnavi TechSquare,loalturVillage,BegurHobli,Bengaluru,Karnataka-560102.

10. The Principal N;; offic6r,'lncred Financial Services Limited' Unit No' 1203' 12th Floor, B dng, in. c"pitrl, Bandra Kurla complex, Mumbai - 400051' Mahirrashtra. ll.ThePrincipalNodalofficer,FederalBank,serviceQualityDepartment, FederalTowers,P.B.Nol03,lAluva'Kerala'lndia'683101'

12. The principal r.ioo"ioni"er, yES BANK, YES BANK House' off western '- Express Highway, Santacruz-East, Mumbai - 400055'

13. The principal f.foiri Offi""r, Bajaj Finance Limited, A-wing 2nd Floor' Mantri Business Park, Viman Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra - 411014'

14. One CC to SRt NAKKA KiRAN KASH, Advocate [oPUC]

15. One CC to SRI R.MANGULAL, Advocate [OPUC]

16. One CC to SRI B.SRIHARI, Advocate (OPUC)

17. one CC to SRI D.JAYASIMHA REDDY, Advocate (oPUc)

18. ONE CC tO SMT N.V.R.RAJYALAKSHMI, SC FOR CENTRAL GOVT' Advrrcate (OPUC)

19. Two CD CoPies SA GJF,

;tI : HIGH CO,URT DATED:25109t2026

ORDER

WP.No.61,25 of 2026 DiSPOSING OF THE W.P WITHOUT COSTS. THE S 3 0 tlnIi 20?fi ,c (-) * * I .'; t: b a