JUDGMENT :

1. The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is directed principally against directives dated 23.09.2019, 26.09.2019, 03.10.2019, 14.10.2019 and 05.11.2019 issued by the respondent No.1-Reserve Bank of India [hereinafter, “RBI”]. By the aforesaid directives, issued under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 [hereinafter, “BR Act”], the RBI imposed certain restrictions on withdrawals by depositors from their accounts in respondent No.2 Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Limited [hereinafter, “PMC Bank”].

A. Factual Background

2. The petitioners are account holders in PMC Bank. The petitioner Nos. 2 and 3 are the parents of petitioner No. 1. The petitioner Nos. 2 and 3 hold four fixed deposits in PMC Bank amounting to a total of Rs.97 lakhs. The contentions in the writ petition are that PMC Bank was established in the year 1984 as an Urban Cooperative Bank [hereinafter, “UCB”]. It was conferred with the status of a Scheduled Bank in the year 2000 and with the status of a Multi-State Urban Co-operative Bank in the year 2004.

3. According to the petitioners, PMC Bank’s annual reports for the year 2018-19 showed deposits in excess of Rs.11,000 cr