Judicial restraint in economic and banking policy leads to refusal of a court-directed home loan relief scheme.

Judicial review was held not to extend to directing a new tax-relief scheme for home loans, delayed possession, or project defaults, because such matters fall within economic and banking policy. Existing Reserve Bank of India housing finance and restructuring directions were noted as binding on banks, and the Court treated the remedies under insolvency law and the real estate regulator as sufficient. As no legal basis was shown for judicial substitution of policy choices, no further directions were issued and the petition was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether any directions should be issued to the Government or the Reserve Bank of India to frame a comprehensive scheme granting tax-related relief and fixing accountability in respect of home loans, delayed possession, and project defaults.

Analysis: The grievance related to economic and banking policy. The Reserve Bank of India had already issued master circulars governing housing finance and loan restructuring under its statutory powers, and those directions operate with binding force on banks. The Court reiterated that formulation of financial and economic policy lies within the domain of expert bodies and that judicial review does not ordinarily extend to substituting a judicial view for such policy choices. The existing framework under the Reserve Bank of India directions, the remedies available under insolvency law, and recourse to the real estate regulator were found sufficient to address such grievances. No basis was made out for the Court to frame a new scheme or issue the requested directions.

Conclusion: No further directions were warranted and the petition was dismissed.

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