Bombay HC dismisses plea to ‘rechristen’ two PSU banks, says no public interest – Times of India

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has dismissed a public interest litigation to remove the regional words from the titles of Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) holding it to be misconceived and without public interest.
Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand Karnik passed the order on Thursday on a PIL by Onkar Sharma, senior internal auditor with PNB, to ‘christen afresh’ the titles of PNB and BOB by removing ‘Punjab’ and ‘Baroda’, respectively.
Sharma’s petition said PNB was established in May 1894 and BoB in July 1908. Both were nationalised in 1969. In March 2019, Dena and Vijaya, both nationalised banks, merged with BoB. Similarly, in March 2020, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India merged with PNB.
Sharma argued that the banks’ regional names were based on the places of their origin and with their widespread network they are national banks and also enjoy international status. Citizens in remote areas are confused whether these banks are regional banks or national/international banks.
The PIL said PNB has 10,769 branches, 180 million customers, and overseas branches and till date, nine banks, including three nationalised ones, have been merged into it. BoB has 9,449 branches, 131 million customers and 100-plus overseas branches.
The judges said that while it is not for HC to delve into the name change of the banks, it is not even Sharma’s case that the regional name has in any manner come in the way of banks’ growth. He mentioned the massive customer base and progress made overseas and did not point out a statutory embargo prohibiting them from using regional names. “These are ultimately matters for consideration of the administration/competent authorities of the concerned banks,” they added.
Referring to Supreme Court’s 2010 directions for entertaining PILs, the judges concluded that they are “more than satisfied” that there is no public interest to entertain. “We fail to appreciate how this PIL aims at redressal of genuine public harm or public injury,” they said.