Investor and businessman TV Mohandas Pai has voiced concerns regarding the “rule of law” being followed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and advocated for the setting up of an SAT to “save citizens from arbitary circulars”.
Responding to social media user Sandeep Parekh's posts on X (formerly known as Twitter), Pai tagged the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official handle, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's official account, the Finance Ministry handle and the official account of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Piyush Goyal to draw attention to his plea.
Pai wrote on X: “Sir please have a SAT for RBI. Save citizens from arbitrary circulars. Ensure rule of law. RBI is not above Constitution and our Parliament. Cannot have rule of unelected officials. You rule over us not RBI. Please intervene.” (sic)
X user Parekh lauded Pai's opinion piece for Mint, noting that regulators wwere given "strong medicine — ‘weaponised their autonomy’, ‘curing dandruff by decapitation’, ‘the regulator appears to play judge, jury, executioner and legislator’, ‘many spending more time on compliance than on investment’ and ‘Yet, AIFs are consumed and confused by compliance. AIFs need three compliance executives for each investment team member.’
Parekh in response to Pai's article also suggested “easiest reform” in the form of introduction of an appellate body similar to SATs to hear the RBI's orders. “There can never be independence without accountability in any institution. We don't need sovereign regulators. We need regulators who do what is best for the country. And that can only happen when there is accountability of their actions,” he added.
Pai further endorsed the suggestion by tagging a host of ministers' official accounts.
In the article for Mint, Pai had suggested that the RBI ought to be answerable to lawmakers, accusing the banking watchdog of “weaponsing its autonomy” and being “excessively prescriptive”. He was speaking with fintech firms and alternative investment funds (AIFs) in mind.
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