New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ordered removal of Maharashtra Cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil and seven other directors of the Latur District Central Cooperative Bank for exceeding the 10-year tenure limit.
Patil belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar. Reacting to the development, he told news agency that he would not challenge the RBI's order, but the ten-year rule came into force in 2021 and it should be examined if it could be applied for appointments prior to that year.
The central bank's order followed directions passed by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court in response to a petition filed by bank member Satish Sheshrao Jadhav.
RBI Assistant General Manager Kapil Goswami issued the order on Friday.
Directors of District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs/Central Cooperative Banks) have a maximum tenure cap of ten years under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as amended by the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Earlier, State Cooperation Department Deputy Secretary Sudhir Amrite had written to the Cooperation Commissioner, Pune, seeking action against directors of district central cooperative banks who had completed more than 10 years in office.
Subsequently, on May 25, 2026, Satish Jadhav submitted a complaint to the Chief General Manager of the RBI, seeking disqualification of eight directors of the Latur DCC Bank on the same ground.
Jadhav told news agency on Saturday that copies of the complaint were also submitted to the Divisional Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Latur Division; the Cooperation Commissioner, and the NABARD section of the RBI.
As the RBI did not act on the complaint, Jadhav moved the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2026.
On August 3, the court asked the RBI to take action on Jadhav's May 25 complaint within six weeks.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.