Madhu Kapur asks for interim relief from court; YES Bank opposes

Case will be heard again on Monday

Madhu Kapur, the widow of YES Bank co-founder Ashok Kapur, on Thursday requested the Bombay High Court to grant an ad interim relief in the ongoing case on the appointment of directors on the private lender's board.

Madhu Kapur wanted a stay on the appointment of six directors —M R Srinivasan, Diwan Arun Nanda, Ravish Chopra (whose appointments were confirmed at the bank's  annual general meeting )  and Pralay Mondal, Sanjay Palve and Rajat Monga (the three senior executives of the bank who were promoted to the board in late June) .

YES Bank opposed the plea and said the move was intended todisturbing functioning of the bank. The arguments by YES Bank couldn't be completed on Thursday and the court will continue to hear the arguments on Monday.

Ravi Kadam, senior counsel representing YES Bank, said since the appointments of the  three directors (Srinivasan, Nanda and Chopra)  were made by the board and approved by a majority of shareholders at the AGM, there was no reason to grant ad interim relief to the petitioner (Madhu Kapur). He also said Madhu Kapur's daughter Shagun Kapur Gogia's nomination was considered by the board in 2009 and was rejected .

There was complete silence on the matter from Madhu Kapur for four years before  suddenly raising it again through a communication in early June this year, he added.

Justice S J Kathawala was to hear the maintainability of the suit on Thursday as YES Bank had said under the Banking Regulations Act, the appointment of directors could not be challenged in a court of law. However, as the case came up of for hearing, both sides differed and cited various earlier judgments to prove their points.

Justice Kathawala then asked both parties to submit their stands in writing. The maintainability issue of the suit will come up  for hearing later.