Judgment

S.MOHAN, J.

(1) ALL these civil appeals arise by certificate granted by the High court of Delhi against the decision reported in Kanta Mehta v. Union of India .

(2) ALL these civil appeals and writ petitions challenge the constitutional validity of Ch. III-C read with Section 58-B(5-A) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, introduced by the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 1983 (Act 1 of 1984. Hence, they are dealt with under a common judgment.

(3) IN order to appreciate the challenge the necessary legal background may be set out.

(4) IN the year 1949, the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 was enacted. That contained regulatory provisions in regard to banking under the surveillance of the Reserve Bank of India as to what would constitute "banking" as defined under Section 5(b) of the 1949 Act.

(5) IN the year 1959, the Banking Companies (Amendment) Act, 1959 was passed. S. 17 and 18 were substituted which required banking companies to create reserve fund and maintain cash reserve. In the year 1963, Banking Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1963 inserted Chapter III-B in the Reserve Bank of India Act. This Ch. conferred extens