JUDGMENT

Dated this the 30^th day of January, 2026

1. The Petitioners have filed this Writ Petition challenging the proceedings of the Respondent Bank to auction the gold pledged by the Petitioners and their daughter. Petitioner No.1 had approached this Court earlier by filing a Writ Petition with the same reliefs which culminated in the Ext.P11 judgment of this Court, by which this Court found that the Writ Petition is not maintainable as against the Respondent Bank, which is a private Bank. While dismissing the said Writ Petition, this Court had observed that the Petitioner is free to agitate his contentions before the appropriate forums, including the Civil Court and the Banking Ombudsman. Thereafter, the Petitioners filed Complaints before the Banking Ombudsman, and the same were rejected by Exts.P15 and P15(a), stating that the complaints were filed without waiting for 30 days after submitting the complaint to the Regulating Entity as required.

2. The contention of the learned Counsel for the Petitioners, Sri. Thomas Abraham, is that the Petitioners had submitted a Complaint before the Bank on 07.01.2026, and hence the complaint before the Ombudsman could be filed only after 07.0