The Bombay High Court on Monday adjourned hearing in the Kotak Mahindra Bank versus Reserve Bank of India (RBI) case to January 9, 2020, citing "paucity of time".

The adjournment came after the writ petition filed by Kotak Mahindra Bank on meeting promoter shareholding norms by RBI did not come up for hearing before the Bombay High Court today.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that both the parties may request an early hearing in the matter from Bombay High Court.

The court's order, published on the website late on Monday evening, said, "On account of paucity of time, the matter stands adjourned to January 9, 2020. If any ad-interim relief or interim relief is operative till today, the same will be continued to operate till the next date. If ad-interim or interim relief is not granted for a limited period, the said order will remain unaffected."

Explaining the long gap in the next hearing date in this case, sources close to RBI explained that the date given by the court for the next hearing in 2020 was an automated date generated based on the number of cases pending with the court and the date of filing the case.

Further, the sources explained this was not an uncommon occurrence and the court could give an earlier date if requested by both parties.

Given that no ad interim order has been passed by the Bombay High Court, sources explained that RBI was free to take penal action against Kotak Mahindra Bank for non-compliance with its promoter shareholding norms if it saw fit.

First Published:Apr 22, 2019 9:18 PM IST