New Delhi, Oct 13 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday postponed the hearing of loan moratorium case to Wednesday, October 14, as the top court was not able to take up the matter due to paucity of time.
"We are adjourning the loan moratorium issue to tomorrow at 1030 am, as the court heard many other matters before it and this case couldn't be taken up today due to paucity of time," a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said.
The bench is hearing a slew of petitions seeking appropriate directions and orders in waiving off interest on interest on loan moratorium period during Covid-19 pandemic time.
The Apex Court had earlier expressed its complete dissatisfaction over the response by the Centre and Reserve Bank of India on the loan moratorium issue and sought another response.
The SC had also asked the parties, including the Union of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to file a detailed affidavit, highlighting all the points.
The parties will have to file a detailed categorical reply as to which recommendations by K V Kamath Committee were accepted, and if those were put out in public domain, the Apex Court had said.
K V Kamath committee had recommended debt restructuring due to COVID-19 related stress on various sectors as well as on the issue of loan moratorium.
Banks Association had told the court that the central government is taking a two pronged approach. "The compound interest waiver proposed for small borrowers is not happening," the association said.
One petitioner, Vishal Tiwari said that the moratorium date should be notified by the Centre so that borrowers can get some relief.
As the country went into the lockdown mode to trim the spread of COVID-19, the RBI on March 27 allowed a moratorium for all banks for three months on payment of all installments due between March 1 and May 31.
The RBI further allowed the banks to extend the moratorium till August 31, but cautioned against the health of the bank sector.
Later, the Centre said the loan moratorium can be extended to two years, as the top court of the country asked it to clear its stand.
UNI XC PS 1720